Power Ledger technology deployed in first live solar energy trading in Delhi

Australian technology company Power Ledger’s blockchain-enabled technology is behind the first live solar energy trading project in Delhi, India, which began operation this week, in collaboration with leading Indian energy utility Tata Power and India Smart Grid Forum.

Power Ledger’s blockchain-enabled technology is facilitating peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of electricity from over 2MW worth of solar PV between 65 prosumers and 75 consumers in India’s capital of Delhi, comprising of 140 buildings and counting.

About 150 sites including Tata Power’s locations as well as their actual customers with solar generation will use the P2P trading platform to sell their excess electricity to other residential and commercial sites in a dynamic pricing environment.

The project allows consumers to choose which seller/prosumer to buy electricity from, while Power Ledger’s blockchain audit trail of energy transactions providing near-time settlement and complete transparency throughout the entire trading process.

Hopes for the project are that it will enable development of an integrated ecosystem of grid-connected distributed energy resources which could include EV charging stations and battery energy storage systems that could directly participate in the marketplace, as well as the generating renewable energy sources.

“India is on a fast-track to a greener power mix with aggressive renewable energy targets that include 100GW of solar energy, of which 40GW is to come from rooftop solar,” said Dr Jemma Green, Power Ledger co-founder and chairman.

“Power Ledger’s partnership with ISGF and a major energy provider like Tata Power-DDL is a major milestone in advancing these ambitious targets and introducing the concept of energy trading to the world’s second-biggest city.”

This first Delhi-based live solar energy trading project will continue through to June so as to test several trading algorithms, including dynamic trading which creates an energy auction pool for prosumers and consumers.

However, the project is only one of 24 projects Power Ledger is running in 10 countries, including a project to create a Renewable Energy Certificate marketplace in the USA and the broader Southeast Asian region.

In October of last year, Power Ledger announced that it was on the cusp of rolling out in North American markets through US electricity supplier American PowerNet (APN) following a successful trial which saw the company’s peer-to-peer (P2P) platform trade a total of 43MWh of energy.

The Delhi-based trial will also provide a comprehensive report as well as provide recommendations to the regulator to consider a specific provision and trading rules so as to promote P2P trading of electricity, which the companies hope will accelerate the growth of rooftop solar.

“Tata Power-DDL is focused towards building a ‘Utility of the Future’ and transforming the power distribution space through innovative green technologies, collaborations and initiatives,” said Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL.

“Today, with growing rooftop solar power being available, we believe that peer-to-peer solar power trading can offer customers the flexibility to buy green power from those who have solar power in excess of their own consumption. I believe it will not only pave the way for a faster adoption of solar energy trading but will also empower our consumers to become prosumers.”

Reji Kumar Pillai, president of India Smart Grid Forum, said blockchain platforms for P2P trading of electricity will be a game changer for the clean energy revolution in the country.

“We have already done another successful pilot project in Uttar Pradesh. The results of these two projects should instill confidence in the regulators to draw appropriate regulations for scaling up of P2P trading of electricity in India.”