CM-Power near-real-time monitoring of global power generation on hourly to daily scales

We constructed a near-real-time global power generation dataset: CM-Power since January 1, 2016 at national levels with near-global coverage and hourly to daily time resolution. The data is frequently updated. The power generation data presented in this study are collected from 37 countries across all continents for eight power source groups, including three types of fossil sources (coal, natural gas, and oil), nuclear energy, and four groups of renewable energy sources (solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy and other renewable sources including biomass, geothermal, etc.). The global near-real-time power dataset shows the dynamics of the global power system, including its hourly, daily, weekly and seasonal patterns as influenced by daily periodical activities (i.e., working hours), weekends, seasonal cycles, as well as by regular and irregular events such as holidays (i.e., Thanksgiving Day) and extreme events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The CM-Power dataset reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused strong disruptions in some countries (i.e., China, India, and South Africa), even leading to a temporary or long-lasting shift to low carbon intensity, while it had only little impact in some other countries (i.e., Australia). This daily and hourly updated power dataset offer a large range of opportunities for power-related scientific research and policy-making.