Global Energy Dashboard

A full‑stack web application that visualizes worldwide electricity generation and installed capacity using the Global Power Plant Database (GPPD). It demonstrates end‑to‑end engineering across data modeling, API design, and interactive frontend visualizations.

• Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router), Tailwind, React, Leaflet, Chart.js
• Backend: Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL (pg)
• Data: GPPD CSV imported into PostgreSQL via pg-copy-streams

Links

• Notion Board: https://www.notion.so/245a6a2d651b80ee9681dde42e0e8efa?v=245a6a2d651b80ad87f4000c8f5218e4&source=copy_link
• Documentation (Google Drive): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T6Hpops0zIDd23j3LneVjEXvUtvfEx2x?usp=sharing

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Features

• Interactive global map of power plants with filtering by country/fuel
• Top countries by total installed capacity
• Multi-country generation trends (2013–2019)
• Country-level overrides editor (capacity and annual generation)
• Robust API with API-key protection
• Docker-based deployment option

Quick Start

Option A: Docker (recommended)

Prereqs: Docker Desktop

1. Start services:

docker compose up -d

• Backend: http://localhost:3000
• Frontend: http://localhost:3001

2. Initialize database and import data (run from your host shell):

node database/scripts/setup_database.js
node database/scripts/import_power_plants.js

API Overview (Backend)

Base URL: http://localhost:3000/api (protected by API key)

• GET /power-plants

  • Query: country (ISO-3), fuel, limit, offset, bounds=west,south,east,north
  • Returns plants with rounded coordinates/capacity for stable rendering

• GET /countries/summary

  • Returns list of available { country, country_long }

• GET /countries/stats/top?limit=25

  • Top countries by total capacity (honors overrides)

• GET /countries/details?countryName=<Country Long Name>

  • Effective capacity for a country (override > base sum)

• GET /countries/:country

  • Summary, fuel breakdown, and recent plants for ISO-3 :country

• GET /countries/:country/generation

  • Yearly reported/estimated/effective generation for a country

• GET /countries/:country/fuels

  • Capacity breakdown by primary fuel

• GET /generation?countries=CountryA,CountryB

  • Multi-country generation series (merges override values)

• GET /global/fuel-capacity

  • Total capacity by primary fuel

Auth header example:

X-API-Key: changeme-strong-key

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Tech Stack

• Languages

  • JavaScript (Node.js, React)

• Backend

  • Express 4 for API routing
  • PostgreSQL via pg with pooled connections
  • Environment config with dotenv
  • API key authentication middleware with constant‑time comparison
  • Structured routes: countries, power-plants, generation, global

• Database

  • PostgreSQL 13+
  • Schema gppd with power_plants table
  • Bulk CSV load using pg-copy-streams (COPY FROM STDIN)
  • Setup and import scripts in database/scripts/*

• Frontend

  • Next.js 14 (App Router)
  • React 18 with dynamic imports for heavy components
  • Tailwind CSS for styling
  • Server routes proxy to backend using BACKEND_URL and BACKEND_API_KEY

• Maps & Charts

  • Leaflet + React Leaflet for interactive map
  • Chart.js + react-chartjs-2 for visualizations

• UI & Utilities

  • Lucide React icons
  • Utility components (cards, badges) and helpers

• Testing

  • Jest + Supertest for backend integration tests

• Packaging & Ops

  • Docker + docker‑compose for local orchestration
  • ETag and Cache‑Control headers for basic HTTP caching
  • cross-env for cross‑platform scripts

Frontend

• Next.js App Router with server routes in frontend/app/api/* proxying to the backend using BACKEND_URL and BACKEND_API_KEY.
• Main dashboard UI: frontend/app/page.js
• Components: map, charts, KPI cards, country editor.

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Data Import

• Schema: database/schema/power_plants.sql into gppd.power_plants
• Import script truncates table and loads database/seeds/global_power_plant_database_clean.csv using COPY

Run:

node database/scripts/setup_database.js
node database/scripts/import_power_plants.js

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Testing

Backend tests (Jest):

cd backend
npm test

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Attribution

This project uses data derived from the Global Power Plant Database (GPPD). Please consult GPPD’s license and citation requirements where applicable.

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.