Bitcoin-inspired peer-to-peer solar trading trial kicks off in Perth
Bitcoin-inspired peer-to-peer solar trading trial kicks off in Perth
By Sophie Vorrath on 12 August 2016
A Perth start-up is set to begin trials of its blockchain-based software program that, if successful, could mean the beginning of peer-to-peer energy trading in Australia, in which consumers buy, sell or swap excess solar electricity directly with each other, rather than to the grid for a minimal return.
The company, Power Ledger, will begin the trials later this month, which will be conducted in conjunction with National Lifestyle Villages. The eight week trial will involve 10 households and about 20 people at NLV’s Busselton Lifestyle Village, on the Western Power network.
Jemma Green – Power Ledger’s chair, who co-founded the company with Dave Martin and Jenny Conroy – says the aim of the pilot project is to enable producers and consumers to trade their energy directly, saving money, hassle and maximising the use of rooftop solar.
Blockchain is the software that underpins bitcoin, the virtual currency that has proved popular in many markets. Blockchain is now being seen as a revolutionary new step in many other markets, including in energy.
The technology works, like bitcoin, to identify the ownership of energy as it is generated and then to manage multiple trading agreements between consumers who buy excess solar direct from the original owner/producer, without the addition of market costs and commercial margins.
“It’s a software program that tracks the movement of electricity from point to point,” Green explained in an interview with One Step Off The Grid on Friday. “It handles the financial transactions off the back of it as well.
“Presently, if you’ve got surplus solar electricity you sell it back for a low feed-in tariff and buy it back (from the grid) for a high rate. Using (Power Ledger), you can sell it to your neighbour at somewhere between the two” – less than the uniform tariff but more than you would get from selling it to their retailer, Green said.
For example, rather than exporting excess solar to the grid for 6-7c/kWh and then buying electricity at a rate of 23c/kWh, you can sell it for 15c/kWh, which is around 10c/kWH after grid access costs are paid to the retailer.
“It’s a win for the people who have been able to afford to invest in roof-top solar, but also a win for customers who haven’t: they will be able to access clean, renewable energy at effectively a ‘wholesale’ rate. Everyone wins.
And in saying that, Green also means the incumbent power industry – as much as this disruptive technology might seem to be cutting their lunch.
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