Global electrical engineering firm ABB has partnered with Italian utility company Evolvere to explore the use of blockchain technology to produce clear and safe peer-to-peer energy transactions. ABB unveiled a blockchain prototype in this respect to study how the technology could encourage the adoption of solar power in peer-to-peer (p2p) trading of electricity.
The firms are conducting a trial that concentrates on domestic solar. ABB worked with Italian power distributor Evolvere to introduce the plan to implement a blockchain created collectively with the blockchain-based Prosume platform. The pilot will supposedly make p2p energy deals transparent and safe, as well as study blockchain’s contribution in the smart grids sector.
Regarding the project, ABB’s head of Smart Power Business, Giampiero Frisio, said: “We recognize that the way people consume and harness their energy is changing. Prosumers, who use their own photovoltaic systems, are looking at how they can not only produce and use the energy they create, but also review how they can then share any excess energy between neighbours, communities and the wider grid.”
Frisio clarified that ABB was “keen to work with like-minded organizations such as Evolvere to test the potential of blockchain technology in solar systems, which will give us a powerful platform for future energy sharing solutions”.
Regarding the trial, ABB said that it “supports the claims that blockchain can be harnessed within energy markets and used within utilities and aggregators, to enable new business models.”
ABB informed PV Tech that the goal of the project is to create inverters ready for blockchain so that stakeholders in the power industry can decrease both capital and operating expenses.
Regarding the benefit of the project, Frisio said, “the Evolvere project has allowed us to develop viable and proven solutions for the market in anticipation of new dynamics and regulatory frameworks coming in to place for blockchain technology.”
Following the prototype, ABB intends to bring the study one step forward and explore how it can guarantee that all of its inverters in the same category are geared up for blockchain. In many “smart” and renewable power initiatives, including smart gas and electric vehicles, ABB Group is active. In Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia, ABB has business activities.
The company had an operating income of more than $28.5 billion in 2018.
Regarding the project, Frisio elaborated as follows:
“The Evolvere project has allowed us to develop viable and proven solutions for the market in anticipation of new dynamics and regulatory frameworks coming in to place for blockchain technology. We are excited to be on this journey as we write the future of energy.”
Evolvere chief executive Franco Giampetruzzi pointed out that the enterprise was “committed to spreading the advantages of distributed energy generation through smart grid technology to enable homeowners to realize just how close we are to sharing energy with other consumers.”
Blockchain has gained momentum throughout the world in the power industry. Earlier in May, US blockchain startup Data Gumbo Corp. received $6 million from major power firms, including venture subsidiary Saudi Arabia’s domestic oil and gas corporation Saudi Aramco. Investors are supposed to assume the blockchain-as – a-service platform of Data Gumbo to enhance supply chains for petroleum and gas by removing litigation and allowing automated payments.
In April, Austria’s biggest power supplier, Wien Energie, in collaboration with tech multinational Bosch, created a blockchain-driven refrigerator. The primary objective behind the initiative is to boost customer participation in viable power consumption. In this scenario, a blockchain system enables one to select the energy source, whether it is a solar panel or a wind power facility.
