Energy data
Article 14 of 25 · Energy insight and dataOpen energy data ENTSO-E TenneT NEDU: a guide for businesses
Direct answer
Open energy data is publicly available information about the energy system that anyone may consult and reuse free of charge. For the Netherlands the key sources are the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform (European generation, load and prices), TenneT (imbalance, balance delta and grid data) and NEDU (consumption profiles and allocation). Together they provide context, benchmarking and input for forecasting, without exposing company-specific data.
- Clear definition
- Data-driven assessment
- Risks and opportunities visible
- Practical next steps
Open energy data ENTSO-E TenneT NEDU: scattered information versus Energy Intelligence
Anyone trying to understand the energy system soon runs into one question: where does reliable data come from? A buyer wants to know how the market price behaved, a facility manager wants to place their consumption against a national picture. Much of that information is public, held by the parties that run the grid and the market. ENTSO-E, TenneT and NEDU each publish their own layer. Together they form the factual basis under analyses, dashboards and forecasts, accessible to everyone.
- ENTSO-E Transparency offers European data on generation, load, cross-border flows and day-ahead prices, per bidding zone and through an open API.
- TenneT publishes for the Netherlands the imbalance prices, the balance delta and grid data, shortly after the measurement moment and often per quarter-hour or per minute.
- NEDU provides standardised consumption profiles and profile fractions that allocate small-user consumption without a smart meter to quarter-hour periods.
Insight
Traditional approach
Information is scattered across portals, documents, invoices or separate spreadsheets.
Modern approach
Data, context and interpretation are brought together into a clear decision picture.
Decision-making
Traditional approach
Choices are made based on averages, assumptions or occasional analyses.
Modern approach
Scenarios, KPIs and current measurement data make the trade-off more concrete and repeatable.
Follow-up
Traditional approach
Actions often stay non-committal or disappear into separate reports.
Modern approach
Follow-up actions, monitoring and reporting are linked to the same energy data.
What open energy data exists, and from whom?
The three sources complement each other at different levels. The ENTSO-E Transparency Platform is the European layer: it bundles data from all transmission operators on generation by fuel, load, unit availability, cross-border capacity and day-ahead market prices, organised per bidding zone. TenneT is the national layer for the Netherlands: as transmission operator it publishes imbalance prices, the balance delta, deployed balancing capacity and grid data, usually shortly after the measurement moment. NEDU is the sector layer for small users: it maintains the national consumption profiles that assign the consumption of households and small businesses without quarter-hour metering to time periods. This covers market, grid and profile.
- ENTSO-E Transparency: European generation, load, flows and day-ahead prices per bidding zone.
- TenneT: imbalance prices, balance delta, balancing capacity and grid data for the Netherlands.
- NEDU: standardised consumption profiles and profile fractions for small users.
- The layers connect: European market, national grid, national consumption profile.
- The data is public and free; some is downloadable, some available through an API.
What can you do with it, and where are the limits?
With open energy data you place your own situation in a larger whole. Market prices and imbalance prices give context to purchasing moments and to assessing flexibility. National load and generation figures serve as a benchmark: how does your pattern compare to the national picture? Historical series feed forecasting models for price or load. NEDU profiles help reconstruct consumption when quarter-hour data is missing. The limits matter just as much. Open sources contain no company-specific or personal data: your own meter data comes from your metering party, not from here. Formats, time zones and definitions differ per source. And figures require interpretation: a number without context quickly leads to wrong conclusions.
- Context: place market prices and imbalance prices next to your own purchasing and flexibility moments.
- Benchmarking: compare your consumption pattern with national load and generation figures.
- Forecasting: use historical series as input for price and load predictions.
- Limit: no company-specific or personal data; your own meter data comes from elsewhere.
- Mind differences in format, time zone and definition, and the interpretation required.
How do you access the data?
Start with the question you want to answer, because that determines the source. If you want market prices or European generation, you go to the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, which offers a web portal and a document-oriented API; for the API you register and request a key. If you are looking for imbalance, balance delta or grid data for the Netherlands, you check TenneT's data pages, which offer downloads and machine-readable feeds. If you need consumption profiles, you find the profiles and profile fractions on the NEDU website. Check the unit, the time zone and the measurement resolution at each source before combining series. That prevents you from adding apples and pears.
- Define your question first: market, grid or profile points you to the right source.
- ENTSO-E: web portal plus API; the API requires registration and a key.
- TenneT: data pages with downloads and machine-readable feeds for the Netherlands.
- NEDU: consumption profiles and profile fractions directly from the website.
- Check unit, time zone and resolution before combining sources.
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