Are open access models able to assess today's energy scenarios?

The current transition towards a low-carbon energy system requires an increasingly complex energy system framework. This is accompanied by the demand for high result reproducibility in order to provide transparency to decision-makers in terms of assumptions and methodological issues. Given this background, Open Access Models (OAMs) are increasingly entering the market that already have a high degree of diversity. This study analyses and compares the methodological framework of different OAMs to assess long-term energy scenarios. In a first step, selected OAMs are typified and characterised based on predefined criteria. In general, the analysis reveals that OAMs with a high level of accessibility appear to have a rather low level of complexity and often focus on the analysis of a single target year. In a second step, we underline our findings of the model overview by applying a well-established OAM (DESSTinEE - Demand for Energy Services, Supply and Transmission in EuropE) to a current energy scenario for Germany. Overall, we conclude that current OAMs can already be applied to a large variety of research questions. However, comparing OAMs to conventional models applied in the field of energy system analysis reveals that there is still a significant performance gap in terms of the degree of methodological sophistication. •Analysis and comparison of the methodological framework of different Open Access Models .•Identification of the current development stage of Open Access Models .•Comprehensive presentation of methodological deepness of Open Access Models .•Results point out development potential for Open Access Models, such as implementation of transformation paths .•Study underlines demand for more sophisticated Open Access Models and standard for model documentation