Power Ledger’s blockchain energy trading tech poised for US rollout

After a successful trial of its energy trading technology, Australian blockchain technology company Power Ledger says it is on the cusp of rolling out in North American markets through US electricity supplier American PowerNet (APN).

American PowerNet is apparently eyeing the rollout of Power Ledger’s energy trading technology in the North American market following a successful trial which saw the company’s peer-to-peer (P2P) platform trade a total of 43MWh of energy.

Using Power Ledger’s blockchain-enabled xGrid platform, the used solar power generated from the rooftop solar installation atop APN’s headquarters in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, to trade with two commercial neighbours across the grid.

A total of 43MWh worth of electricity was traded on the platform, resulting in a 17% renewable energy mix for the buying participants, who were able to access renewable energy at 5% lower rates compared to grid rates.

“Our technology is proving to be compatible with existing large-scale electricity infrastructure like the PJM in the US and the National Electricity Network in Australia,” said Power Ledger co-founder and executive chairman Dr Jemma Green.

‘This places Power Ledger in a powerful position in the market as a network-ready technology.”

“We are delighted with the results and will be looking to extend Power Ledger’s technology across our market,” added American PowerNet CEO Scott Helm.

“This trial has demonstrated the value proposition of blockchain technology, and we believe there will be significant interest from market participants.”

The successful trial came hot on the heels of an historic ruling by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in September, which is set to pave the way for aggregated distributed energy resources to compete alongside traditional power plants and other grid resources in wholesale markets.

Next on the cards for Power Ledger’s energy trading platform is a transition to an ongoing commercial deal with the two unnamed end users involved in the original trial for another two years, in what the companies hope will result in 350MWh of energy, including 75MWh of renewable energy, being traded.

Power Ledger and APN are also apparently exploring possible future opportunities to deploy the xGrid platform in other North American regions, and the introduction of possible projects including loyalty P2P trading of electricity where consumers can sell their rooftop electricity to their favourite retail brand in exchange for store vouchers.

“This is a great option for supermarkets, food outlets and shopping centres as it builds brand engagement – footfall and click fall with their own customers,” said Dr Green.

Real-time tracking of renewable energy from offsite renewable generation is also being explored for institutional customers such as university campuses.

“During the past year Power Ledger has been working collaboratively with APN to run as a parallel system for verification of energy transactions, adjusting our platform to suit the needs of consumers,” added Dr Green.

Already this year Power Ledger signed a deal to deploy its trading platform into Europe, to track and certify the sales of 100% renewable electricity. Power Ledger signed with French green energy retailer ekWateur in April to deploy the system for its customers, allowing customers the opportunity to choose where they source their power from.

Power Ledger also signed a deal in August to expand its partnership with Thai renewable energy business BCPG to launch an additional project that aims to create a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) marketplace in Thailand and the broader Southeast Asian region.