A Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Regional Energy Consumption from Satellite-Derived Nighttime Light Imagery

Reliable estimates of regional energy consumption are essential to planning sustainable development and achieving decarbonization; however, this information is still not available for several regions worldwide. In this work, we propose a methodological framework that uses satellite-derived Nighttime Light (NTL) imagery and machine learning to predict regional electricity consumption one year ahead. The methodology follows three stages: First, a Random Forest regression model is used to identify the relationship between NTL data and regional energy consumption. Thereafter, NTL values for the year ahead are forecasted using NTL values from previous years. Lastly, the obtained result is applied to estimate regional energy consumption from predicted NTL values for the year ahead. The country of Mexico is considered a case study to apply and validate this methodology, reproducing spatial consumption patterns with high correlation to official data (R2>0.85), thus confirming the success of this proposal. The proposed methodology demonstrates how energy demand can be estimated, even in areas of scarce information, providing a transparent and replicable approach for energy monitoring in data-limited regions.