nexustandards.com/energy-infrastructure · 3 taught
Energy and Critical Infrastructure
NRS-H84 Energy system instability and shortfall; NRS-M15 Energy risk
3standards1discipline
Illustrative: a wind farm on a ridge with rotors turning and helical wakes, or a solar tower and its heliostat field
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Infrastructure, Energy and Industry · Department of Energy and Resources
Taught in the Nexus stream
Energy systems and the energy transition
The discipline covers the reliability, security and transition of the systems that produce, store and deliver power, heat and fuels: generation, grids and interconnection, storage, hydropower and nuclear interfaces, and the risks of a fast transition.
- Energy security
- Power grids and interconnection
- Grid disruption and restoration
- Renewables and storage
- Hydropower and water
- Heat, cooling and demand
- Transition risk for energy companies
- Industrial energy systems
- Energy access
Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: Energy, water and cities under heat and drought.
02Maps
Maps and the globe for any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow energy systems and the energy transition on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
03Live map
Energy now in New Zealand
Night-time lights, fires and gas flares, sunshine and heat, the signals of energy use, supply and demand, over New Zealand.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
Energy now
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
Energy now, framed on New Zealand.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MERRA-2 reanalysis, NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office; distributed by the NASA GES DISC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Past year, daily temperature (ERA5 via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
- Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (8 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- Incoming sunlight at the surface over land, monthly mean: MERRA-2, NASA GMAO / GES DISC · July 2026
- Daytime cloud fraction: MODIS Terra, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Land surface temperature, day: VIIRS NOAA-20, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
04The subject
The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies
The field and its scope
For energy planners, grid and market analysts, utility risk managers and policy staff who need to assess security of supply, grid disruption and restoration, and the transition risks that fall on energy companies and the systems they run.
Quantities and units
Methods and their limits
Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.
What the field debates
Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish
Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.
05The method
From a reserve margin to hours of lost load: how adequacy is counted
Peak demand and installed capacity give a reserve margin; forced outages and demand error turn that margin into a probability of shortfall; the hours of shortfall expected in a year are the loss of load expectation, and the adequacy standard decides whether more capacity is procured.
Sources: Billinton and Allan, Reliability Evaluation of Power Systems (1996); Joskow, Capacity payments in imperfect electricity markets: need and design (2008); Busby et al., Cascading risks: understanding the 2021 winter blackout in Texas (2021); Pfenninger, Hawkes and Keirstead, Energy systems modelling for twenty-first century energy challenges (2014).
06Instrument
Energy systems and the energy transition
- Open, 1
- In preparation, 2
- Also taught here, 1
- Subtopics, 9
Energy systems and the energy transitionRegister
- DepartmentDepartment of Energy and Resources
- Courses1 course open
- LevelsL2 Intermediate
- LabsNetwork lab, Map lab, Exposure lab
Risk Academy · Infrastructure, Energy and Industry
07Signature
How energy systems and the energy transition connects the sectors
Select corners to build a signature, then hover a line to read what each sector gives and receives.
Select corners · hover lines6 / 15 relations
Signature
Energy and its partners
Energy gives power for transport and telecoms to infrastructure (0.8), pumping and treatment to water (0.5) and fertiliser, machinery and cold chains to food (0.5).
W · E · I · F · H · B
- Sectors
- 4 of 6
- Relations
- 6 of 15
- Coupling
- 0.46 share of total
Strongest relations in play
- Energy → Infrastructure · power for transport and telecoms0.8
- Water → Energy · cooling water and hydropower0.6
- Water → Food · irrigation0.8
- Infrastructure → Water · pipes, dams and treatment works0.6
08Standards and evidence
Standards and evidence, research and evidence, profile, what is changing and learning
Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on
The Nexus Standards the discipline teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.
Nexus Standards at the AcademyThe Academy proposes how each discipline teaches toward the Nexus Standards; the mapping is open for public review.
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Energy systems and the energy transition, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
Hazard families it covers
From the Academy's risk taxonomy: the discipline's own entries and those of its primary courses, with how many courses teach each.
Hazard families
- Critical infrastructure outage2 courses
- Attacks on operational technology1 course
- Extreme heat1 course
- Space weather and near-Earth objects1 course
- Wildfire1 course
What is changing now
Recent developments in energy systems and the energy transition, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.
Courses in this discipline
Courses with this as their primary discipline.
Courses with this primary discipline1 course open
- RAN-302Energy NexusOpen for enrolmentNexus, L2 Intermediate, 20 hours
- RAN-311Energy Sector Risk: Generation, Grids and TransitionIn preparationNexus, L2 Intermediate, 10 hours (estimate)
Courses from connected disciplines that also teach this field
Each course has its primary discipline elsewhere and teaches this field as part of its scope.
From connected disciplines1 course open
How the subject is practised in labs
| Lab | What you do in it | Courses using it |
|---|---|---|
| Network lab | Build dependency graphs, find critical nodes, trace cascades | 3 |
| Map lab | Read hazard, exposure and boundaries on real maps | 2 |
| Exposure lab | Overlay people and assets with hazard footprints | 1 |
09Console
How Energy systems and the energy transition is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
10Practice
Practice, learning and connections
How technology helps and what risk it brings
Achievements in this discipline
Pathways that teach it
Where the subject is practised
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-GRX systemEnergy couples water, food and infrastructureCascades room
- NXS-DSS systemTransition pathways as scenario setsScenarios room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Disciplines it depends on
Across the ecosystem
11Take part
Take part in Infrastructure, Energy and Industry
Start from who you are.
12References
Core references and where to begin
Start with Cherp, then Billinton, then Kundur.
13Questions
Questions, answers and key terms
Is study here free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the courses in energy systems and the energy transition?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.
Key terms
Term
Energy security
The uninterrupted availability of energy at an affordable price.
Term
Grid balancing
Keeping electricity supply and demand matched in real time to hold frequency stable.
Term
Black start
Restarting a power system from a total or partial shutdown without external supply.
Term
Resource adequacy
Whether a power system has enough capacity to meet demand at all times with a stated reliability.
ReportsContribute
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
Risk Academy
Related
Around Energy systems and the energy transition
Energy systems and the energy transition
Start with an open course
The catalogue lists each course with its outcomes, labs, hours and level.