Smart grid public datasets: Characteristics and associated applications

The development of smart grids, traditional power grids, and the integration of internet of things devices have resulted in a wealth of data crucial to advancing energy management and efficiency. Nevertheless, public datasets remain limited due to grid operators' and companies' reluctance to disclose proprietary information. The authors present a comprehensive analysis of more than 50 publicly available datasets, organised into three main categories: micro- and macro-consumption data, detailed in-home consumption data (often referred to as non-intrusive load monitoring datasets or building data) and grid data. Furthermore, the study underscores future research priorities, such as advancing synthetic data generation, improving data quality and standardisation, and enhancing big data management in smart grids. The aim of the authors is to enable researchers in the smart and power grid a comprehensive reference point to pick suitable and relevant public datasets to evaluate their proposed methods. The provided analysis highlights the importance of following a systematic and standardised approach in evaluating future methods and directs readers to future potential venues of research in the area of smart grid analytics.