Power Ledger launches P2P solar trading trial in Bangkok

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Perth-based blockchain developer Power Ledger has come together with Thai renewable energy business BCPG to launch a peer-to-peer (P2P) renewable energy trading trial at the T77 urban precinct in Bangkok, Thailand.

The trial is realized in partnership with Thai utility Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), which is allowing access to its network for the physical transaction of energy between participants.

According BCPG, the P2P platform will rely on rooftop solar systems with a total capacity of 635 kW deployed across four participating entities and co-located battery storage, which are expected to cover 20% of the community’s overall electricity needs.

BCPG is in charge of designing and installing the connections, meters and solar PV, while Power Ledger is providing its blockchain technology as the transactive layer across 18 meter points to monitor energy transactions between participants, enable P2P trading, generate invoicing, and evaluate the trading position of individual participants.

The trading transaction will be settled through Power Ledger’s Sparkz token, which is not affected by rates in cryptocurrency exchanges, unlike its POWR tokens that were generated as part of the company’s Initial Coin Offering.

Meanwhile, Thai utility MEA will allow access to their network for the physical transaction of energy and leverage metering data from Power Ledger’s platform for customer billing.

“Having a utility allow the physical transaction of energy inside the T77 precinct is an important step towards our aim of providing individuals with the ability to sell their excess renewable energy,“ said Power Ledger Managing Director David Martin, adding that Thailand is a regional showcase for the integration of distributed renewable energy technologies.

In some of the company’s previous projects, such as Yolk’s Evermore apartment development at White Gum Valley in partnership with Western Power and Curtin University in Australia, or its first U.S. commercial deployment of energy trading at the Northwestern University campus in Evanston Northwestern University in Chicago, settlements were managed without going through an electricity retailer.

This is another Asian project for Power Ledger, which earlier this year partnered with Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) to trial its blockchain-enabled platform on 10 homes in Osaka, Japan.

Upon successful completion of the trial, Power Ledger and BCPG will be looking to deploy the solution across 31 new projects with total power generation capacity of 2 MW over a 3-year period.

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