Blockchain for Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading in DERs
Blockchain in the Energy Industry — Part 2
As the share of renewables in the energy mix is increasing (it is currently 67 percent in Canada), the quality of energy generated is declining. This is due to the erratic nature of energy sourced from renewable distributed energy resources (DER), such as wind and solar generation. In order to rectify this, battery storage is being increasingly used to smooth out the quality of this energy. Rising investment in energy storage has led to a renewed upsurge in the electricity trading market: The global electricity trading market is predicted to increase by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent by 2023.
“This growth is spurred on by the increase in peer-to-peer energy trading projects.”
This growth is spurred on by the increase in peer-to-peer energy trading projects, which accounts for 59 percent of total blockchain projects in the energy industry. P2P trading within communities can make them self-reliant net-zero communities, and further increase the proliferation of renewables, while allowing energy prosumers to increase their ROI.
Utilities need to collaborate with small-scale energy producers to collectively bring benefits to end consumers, as mentioned in the previous blog post in this series. Utilities will benefit from the utilization of their distribution infrastructure for these transactions, which will allow them to create additional revenue streams. What would be the impact on revenue if we switch from the current unidirectional electricity system to a multi-directional P2P electricity trading system?
“The solution lies in integrating utilities in the P2P trading value chain.”
The solution lies in integrating utilities in the P2P trading value chain such that the increased ROI of the energy prosumers remains unaffected, energy prices stay low for the end consumer, and the utilities can increase their returns substantially. Can you think of a business model that would integrate all the players in this value chain such that all of them can derive monetary benefits?
