Blockchain

Known for its blockchain-based peer-to-peer platform that allows energy trading between households, Power Ledger is now readying for the first large-scale commercial rollout of its technology in Australia. The Perth-based company has partnered with electricity wholesaler Powerclub to allow households to pool net solar and battery storage and act as a virtual power plant.

A public enterprise grade energy blockchain has powered up with the promise to accelerate a low-carbon, distributed electricity future. For the first time, energy sector companies are hosting validator nodes on a decentralized network as they seek to adapt to a more digitalized and decentralized energy system.

Open-source blockchain platform Energy Web Foundation has revealed the number of its affiliates has risen from 37 last month to 100. New members include EnBW, Total and the State Grid Corporation of China. The platform was conceived to create an energy-blockchain ecosystem and to accelerate the energy transition.

PowerLedger’s xGrid is a blockchain-based electricity trading platform that’s now being used in a Pennsylvania business park, in addition to Chicago, California, a large housing unit in Australia, plus a few more locations.

Some 377 households and a retirement home are participating in a pilot project. In the first two weeks of this month, solar power generators sold 82% of their electricity within the neighborhood. The goal of the one-year test run is to develop a viable concept for the trading of solar power.

Around 40 residential properties across the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia, will be able to trade solar power using a blockchain-enabled platform. The trial is even open for residents who do not have solar PV on their rooftops.