New Partnership to Deliver Blockchain Renewable Energy Trading

A new business partnership will look to make renewable energy more accessible and affordable in Melbourne, through a commercial deployment of blockchain renewable energy trading.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading platform Power Ledger and energy solutions business Greenwood Solutions announced a partnership last week, to facilitate the first commercial deployment of Power Ledger’s P2P energy trading platform in Melbourne.

Power Ledger’s software platform allows consumers to buy and sell renewable energy directly between one another, through the use of blockchain technology to create “a transparent, auditable and automated record of energy generation and consumption”.

“The current model of how people buy and sell electricity is outdated and cumbersome,” Greenwood Solutions director Eddie Greco said.

“Being able to experience our customers first hand frustration on the complexity of electrical billing, quickly made us realise that change was needed.

“Renewables and blockchain have been a strong passion of mine over a number of years. It was only a matter of time before the synergy between the two was found.”

Greenwood Solutions will install solar across strata units using the Power Ledger platform to dispense solar energy efficiently behind the meter.

The aim is not only to supply residents with clean renewable energy, but also to create increased awareness around the benefit of renewable energy.

Power Ledger managing director David Martin said this commercial deployment would enable residents to maximise the return from investing in renewable energy.

“Coupling on-site renewable energy generation with peer-to-peer trading will allow residents to maximise the value of their renewable energy investments, while sharing the low-carbon benefits with their neighbours,” Martin said.

“Power Ledger is focused on creating a platform for consumer-owned, low-cost, low-carbon energy systems and this deployment in Melbourne brings us a step closer to our goal of democratising power.”

Power Ledger analyst James Eggleston told Pro Bono News that blockchain technology enabled consumers to save money by not having to purchase energy from the grid.

“The reason energy from the grid is more costly is because your local generator is not located close to your house. It’s located a long way away,” Eggleston said.

“So when you’re purchasing energy you’re also paying for use of a large scale network to deliver electricity to your house.

“And by putting generators behind the meter you’re actually having a technology that doesn’t require a large network to get energy to your power points and so therefore costs are much cheaper.”

Eggleston said that blockchain renewable energy trading had the potential to be “all pervasive” across Australia.

“Because the administrative burden is [removed through] our software, the existing infrastructure is very low. And what we can do is reward people for participating in the electricity market, in the same way that a large generator will be rewarded,” he said.

“What it means is that anyone participating in connecting a generator of some kind to the electricity market would receive a good price and a fair price for their electricity.

“A suburban household is more likely put on solar [cells] than to have a micro coal-fired power station or a micro-turbine or even a diesel generator. And that’s how blockchain technology comes in to facilitate an uptake of renewable technology.”