To summarise the whole content of this artifice, let’s say that we are facing a new market design, which is being deployed in 4 different European countries (Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Estonia), to become the “STANDARD” for P2P energy trading, including a possible direct connection with Tesla and its future P2P energy trading software.
If we are talking about detecting a blockchain opportunity in the industry still in the discovery phase and within an emerging market, Energy Web and the energy sector is undoubtedly the most interesting by far that I have come across in recent years, due to its criticality and necessity in a clearly uncontrolled sector, which is directly punishing the consumer’s pocket. A project that has penetrated the heart of the energy sector with force, but without making hardly any noise.
Electricity in Europe presents several problems that affect consumers: price instability, supply difficulties, lack of investment and lack of unity among all the countries of the union. Problems that undoubtedly affect the competitiveness of the region and the quality of life of consumers and businesses. Technology can play a key role in reducing electricity costs in Europe. This can happen if applied in areas such as renewable energy generation, smart grids, energy efficiency and digitalisation. These actions not only help to lower electricity costs, but also improve the sustainability of the energy system in Europe.
Blockchain technology is starting to have potential applications in the energy sector, applications that could help reduce electricity costs in Europe, bring traceable and immutable renewable energy certification and grid management efficiency based on collective incentive for demand control in a mutually beneficial system.
I would like to put special attention to the certification of the origin of electricity, an important process in Europe to encourage the transition to a more sustainable energy system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Certification schemes, such as the Guarantees of Origin scheme, allow consumers and businesses to make better choices about the energy they consume and can be used by governments and regulators to set policies and regulations related to renewable energy. Taking this back to my own field, many asset managers, private banks or large investment funds, due to internal policies and SGS processes, will only be able to offer and trade tokens and cryptocurrencies that certify both their origin and the energy sustainability of their mining.
Energy Web has developed a blockchain platform specifically for the energy sector called Energy Web Chain, designed to provide a secure and decentralised infrastructure for managing data and transactions in the energy sector. Energy Web Chain uses a modified and optimised version of blockchain technology to meet the specific needs of the energy sector. The platform enables the creation of decentralised applications (dApps) that can be used for grid management, renewable energy certification and energy trading.
This is a real technology infrastructure that, through its various applications, can help to reduce costs, improve efficiency and make the energy system in Europe more sustainable. It will not be easy, as we face the challenge of changing the way the world’s energy markets work. That is why I like it, because being a BLUE CHIP in disguise, it has not yet undergone its true metamorphosis. Its value and purpose to the world is to give the ability to exchange energy generated in a household with your neighbour, your community, your municipality or a business, what we commonly call “P2P trading”. I don’t know if you already sense the powerful shift that this brings, as we move from having a home that consumes energy resources and generates expenses in the household economy, to having a home that is able to be productive and generate passive income from its energy surpluses.
It is a solution that directly affects a business monopoly, but is almost ready to be adopted and put into service as a reality. Energy Web’s powerful validators confirm this, as in the case of Elia Group, a company that supplies energy to Belgium and part of Germany, which is very focused on the future and viability of this business. In other words, they understand that the change has to be towards a sustainable and consumer-centred electricity system.
Still in the testing phase, this type of market will start to be implemented very soon (possibly in late 2023, early 2024), through the so-called “Energy Exchange Blocks”, an innovative development that provides a connection and secondary market for this asset, where the exchange of energy will take place every 15 minutes between consumers.
To better understand how this technological miracle is going to happen I recommend you dive into the Elia EnergyBlocks VCS Verified Credentials repository on the Energy Web Foundation’s Github.
The fact that Elia and Energy share repositories have another project together dedicated to digital identity verification, only confirms that they are collaborating. To give you a summary and focus on the really juicy stuff, the code frequency is being worked on very intensively in the last 6 months.
Elia Group is focusing on the traceability of energy, providing a toolkit to monitor it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and every 15 minutes. Providing consumers with energy, similar to what they would get from renewables. For this task, it also has the support of Microsoft, since its set of tools is already available in Microsoft Azure. It is undoubtedly a project that can be explored much further (in fact, I encourage you to do so), given that many changes are coming in all areas of our lives, and blockchain will be present in each of these changes, a concept born thanks to the union of the internet and evolution, which will provide the network of networks with a use beyond information, something previously unthinkable due to the inability to support complex applications.
Don’t ignore the indirect influence that Elon Musk has on this issue, who is highly committed to universal basic income for people and a sustainable energy future. Today, March 1, a software developed and patented by Tesla will possibly be presented, for the purchase and sale of energy in its virtual plant (AUTOBIDDER), intended for all consumers and I have no doubt that there will be a nod to EWT, which will cause a small pump in its price.