The groundbreaking Global Atlas for Solar and Wind is now available online. The new web-based portal, which serves as a repository for renewable energy resource data from around the world, represents the largest initiative ever undertaken to assess renewable energy potentials on a global scale. Launched during the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) January Assembly, the ambitious project was initiated by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group and is the result of a two-year collaborative effort with IRENA.

The Global Atlas for Solar and Wind is a comprehensive resource to help countries evaluate renewable energy potentials.

The Atlas provides critical information that can help countries evaluate renewable energy potentials and can function as a catalyst to trigger planning and policy development. It can also help investors assess emerging and new renewable energy markets.

The portal features high-quality resource maps from leading technical institutes and simplified models for evaluating the technical potential of renewable energy supplies. It also contains video tutorials and information on best practices for evaluating solar and wind potentials.

“In the next 10 years we expect a huge rise in the investments in renewable energy. The Global Solar and Wind Atlas will help us make the right decisions,” said Martin Lidegaard, Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Building and a member of the CEM Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group.

The Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group played a critical role in developing the Atlas, with working group countries contributing resources such as satellite maps, validated data sets of national atlases, and the expertise of their national research facilities. The working group, one of CEM’s 13 initiatives, works to promote the accelerated deployment of solar and wind technologies.

The Atlas will be expanded in 2013 to include solar and wind expert analysis modules. Geothermal, hydropower, and bioenergy content will also be added to the Atlas in the future.