Power Ledger and BCPG team up to launch SE Asian REC marketplace

Western Australian tech startup Power Ledger and Thai renewable energy company BCPG are expanding their partnership with the creation of a Renewable Energy Certificate marketplace for SE Asia on Power Ledger’s peer-to-peer blockchain platform.

August 26, 2020 Blake Matich

Power Ledger’s peer-to-peer renewable energy trading platform is already rolled out across the T77 urban precinct in Bangkok, Thailand.

Image: Power Ledger

Perth-based energy trading company, Power Ledger, which utilises its blockchain technology for solar energy trading, is set to expand its partnership with Thai renewable energy business BCPG through the creation of the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) marketplace in South East Asia and the Asia Pacific.

Power Ledger and BCPG have been in partnership since August 2018, when the two came together to launch a peer-to-peer (P2P) renewable energy trading trial at the T77 urban precinct in Bangkok. The trial saw rooftop solar systems with a total capacity of 635 kW and co-located battery storage cover 20% of the community’s overall electricity needs.

Now, BCPG is looking to sell its RECs based on values derived from meter readings on Power Ledger’s P2P platform in a REC marketplace spanning SE Asia. This marketplace is Power Ledger’s own platform, which can process the issuance, trade and retirement of RECs based on the International REC Standard (I-REC), the global standard setter for energy attribute tracking. Each I-REC issued REC represents 1 MW of renewable energy.

“Power Ledger and BCPG are creating the first REC marketplace of its kind in Asia,” said Power Ledger Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Dr Jemma Green, “bridging the gap between buyers and sellers by providing an end-to-end solution that tracks REC generation, trading and retirement through one integrated online system without the need for a broker.”

By centralising the REC market on Power Ledger’s secure and trusted platform the chances of the scalping of used RECs is strongly reduced. Moreover, the whole process of transacting renewable becomes a streamlined affair.

BCPG President and CEO Bundit Sapianchai said the REC marketplace “will help promote the use of renewable energy and make the market more sustainable.”

Power Ledger’s platform has already proven its REC accountability in the U.S. In January, Power Ledger teamed up with Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS) and Clearway Energy Group to launch a REC marketplace for North America.

“We’re looking forward to building on our work in the United States and replicating a similar effective model in the Asian market,” said Green. “Power Ledger has built a platform that can process high-volume REC transactions, ultimately helping companies meet their greenhouse gas emissions targets.”

A P2P power trip

One could be forgiven for thinking the “Power” in Power Ledger stood for “power-hungry,” for the ambitious Western Australian startup seems to have a presence in more countries around the world than the CIA.

In April, Power Ledger revealed the world’s biggest ‘choose your own energy source’ project in France. In February, Power Ledger won the Alperia Startup Factory Innovation Camp, beating out 230 applicants from 37 countries to win a contract with one of Italy’s largest renewable energy utilities. This is not even to mention the expanding trials in India and Japan. And at home in Perth, more than 100 apartments are getting access to Power Ledger’s blockchain technology as part of a three-year deal with developer Nicheliving.

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