Solar earns the thirst, you drink the beer – new platform lets you trade PV for VB

As Carlton & United Breweries’ (CUB) iconic Aussie beer Victoria Bitter (VB) proved back in 2019, it has a hard earned thirst for 100% offset solar PV. In 2021, at a time when the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is looking to tax solar feed-ins, VB is trying to set the world right, developing a platform in which solar owners can exchange their excess energy for slabs of the good stuff, the green grenades that are greener than ever before. 

VB, in partnership with Diamond Energy and Power Ledger, has launched Solar Exchange, a program allowing participants to exchange credit on their power bill – earned from generating excess solar – for beer. That’s right, the sunnier it is, the more free ice cold beer rains down upon you, which is to say, gets delivered to your door. You give VB solar, VB gives you slabs. 

“Last year we put the Australian sun to work and started brewing VB with 100% offset solar energy,” said Brian Phan, general manager marketing Victoria Bitter, “Now we’ve launched this Aussie-first program to thank those who have made the effort to go solar with some hard-earned VB.” 

“The only thing better than drinking the Big Cold Beer in the Aussie sun” continued Phan, “is earning beer while you do it. Plus it’s a real win-win for beer lovers and the environment.”

Basically, by utilising Power Ledger’s blockchain-powered platform for energy trading, VB will receive the excess solar credits on a solar owner’s energy bill from Diamond Energy and re-invest those credits into the program or other in-house sustainability efforts. 

Power Ledger’s co-founder and chairman Dr Jemma Green said that it was great their technology allowed solar owners to track how much beer they’ve earned (beer is delivered every quarter, like having four Christmases). “We are a global pioneer of peer-to-peer energy trading, and in a country that thrives on the beer economy, we are excited to be part of Australia’s first peer-to-beer energy exchange scheme.” 

We've partnered with Carlton United Breweries' @Vic_Bitter on the world's first peer-to-beer energy exchange, enabling Aussies to trade their excess solar energy for VB beer.

Learn more here: https://t.co/seSIzul5Eb

— Dr Jemma Green (@msjemmagreen) March 31, 2021

CUB, which was bought by Asahi last year, has committed to being 100% renewably powered by 2025 and had already signed a 12-year PPA with the 112 MW Karadoc Solar Farm in Mildura, owned by German solar developer BayWa r.e.

There are 500 spots in the Solar Exchange available at the outset (available for residents of VIC, NSW, QLD (Energex customers only) and SA.), but VB is looking to expand the program. Find free beer here.