Ember
Free & Open alternative data provider · 1 listed dataset
Reviewed
Ember is an energy think tank that publishes research and open data on the electricity transition. Its data hub includes electricity generation, demand, capacity, emissions and prices, with downloadable datasets, interactive tools and an API.[1]
Ember's annual and monthly datasets have different geographical and temporal coverage. They assemble information from international and national sources rather than observing every power plant directly; a global label does not mean every country has equally current or detailed records.[2][3]
History and Institutional Role
Ember traces its origins to Sandbag, established in 2008 to work on the EU carbon market and European coal phase-out. It states that it relaunched as Ember in March 2020 with a global focus on the electricity transition.[5] Its current mission combines open data and policy research, including work on coal-mine methane.
Ember is a not-for-profit think tank rather than a national statistical agency.[5] Its datasets bring together and harmonize other organizations' information. Its stated policy mission provides context for the research programme; the published methods and underlying sources remain the basis for evaluating individual estimates.
Electricity Datasets
The yearly dataset covers generation, capacity, emissions, imports and demand for more than 200 geographies. The monthly dataset describes 88 geographies representing more than 90% of global electricity demand, as stated on the pages reviewed in September 2026.[2][3] These coverage statements belong to the specific datasets, not every product published by Ember.
The hub also lists specialist resources on wholesale electricity prices, wind and solar capacity, renewable targets and regional electricity systems.[1] Users should select the appropriate frequency and geography instead of combining products solely because they share a publisher.
Sources and Methodology
Ember identifies multi-country sources such as EIA, Eurostat and United Nations data alongside national statistical sources. Its dataset pages link to methodology documents and describe regular amendments as new information becomes available.[2][3] Differences in reporting coverage, provisional values and source definitions can therefore affect cross-country comparisons.
Generation, capacity, demand and emissions intensity are different quantities. Retain their units and definitions, distinguish fuel-specific rows from aggregate totals, and do not add an aggregate such as renewables to the components already included in it. Emissions figures should be interpreted with the dataset's documented methodology, not as independently measured emissions from every asset.
Access and Reuse
The data pages provide CSV downloads, while API access requires requesting a key with email verification.[2][3][4] Ember states that its website content is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.[2] Preserve attribution and check the relevant dataset documentation and upstream source conditions when redistributing or combining records.
The July 2026 format notice describes a changed download layout: metrics appear as columns, geography and source labels change, and an aggregate-source flag distinguishes totals from component rows.[3] Existing ingestion code should validate the current file headers and units rather than assume compatibility with older downloads.
Research Uses and Limitations
The data can support analysis of generation mixes, electricity demand and the pace of energy-system change. For financial research, national electricity activity is context rather than a direct measure of one company's revenue, profitability or asset performance.
Archive the downloaded release and retrieval date when building historical models. A current file can include revisions to earlier periods, so it may contain information that was unavailable at a past decision date. Annual totals, monthly coverage and reporting lags must be reconciled before drawing comparisons across time or markets.
More datasets from Ember
Ember lists 1 datasets on this encyclopedia. The most representative listings:
More about Free & Open Data
Free & Open Data is one of the signal families covered by The Alternative Data Encyclopedia, with 36 providers and 322 datasets listed in the register. For how the signal is generated, its caveats and the compliance considerations, and the full provider list, see the category article.
Further reading
- How funds evaluate alternative data vendorsEvaluating alternative-data providers: research fit, provenance, historical timing, permitted use and the evidence needed for an informed purchasing decision.
- Open vs commercial alternative dataWhat free and open datasets can and cannot do: where public data rivals paid panels, where it cannot compete, and how open sources fit a professional research workflow.
- Alternative data for hedge fundsA practical guide to alternative data for hedge funds: team design, budget sequencing, infrastructure, vendor portfolio construction and the metrics that show whether the program creates investment value.
- Free alternative data sourcesThe practical list of free alternative-data sources for investors: public filings, official statistics, satellite and earth observation, on-chain data, web archives and open registries, what each covers, what it costs in engineering effort, and where free data falls short.