European Climatic Energy Mixes (ECEM) is an activity of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) that was born to find the answer to the following questions: to what extent will energy supply be able to provide effective responses to energy demand in Europe? How to address the future of energy in Europe by taking into account different time scales? What will be the role of the climate with regard to the energy sector and the answers that will be given?

The production of reliable climate data and its accessibility by companies, policy-makers, and civil society representatives are essential elements to develop effective climate services. However, the availability of climate data is not enough to ensure their uptake by users, at least by those who are not part of the climate sciences community.

The energy sector, for example, is undergoing significant changes. It is well known that both energy demand and supply are subject to the change of climatic conditions (Troccoli 2018). In fact, the entire energy sector is driven to zero carbon emissions towards renewable sources and more efficient use and consumption of energy.

In this context, the C3S ECEM Demonstrator (Figure 8.1) was designed to provide an interactive tool that allows users to assess how different energy mixes will respond to different climatic conditions in many regions of Europe.

Developed in closer collaboration with prospective users, this proof-of-concept climate service is addressed to energy companies, operators, and policy-makers. More specifically, the Demonstrator will ensure that the different country energy mixes properly reflect climate conditions including their variability, and it will, therefore, allow end-users to better assess the optimal supply that can meet demand in the most cost-effective manner.

User interactive interface of the C3S ECEM Demonstrator (source: http://ecem.climate.copernicus.eu/demo)