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The utility industry implements blockchain technology at the micro-level processes such as productions, distribution, and security level.
FREMONT, CA: Playing a significant role in today’s world, the power utility is excelling the game of cybersecurity. A significant step taken by the utility industry is adopting blockchain technology to their system to face challenges against the emerging threat, demand, and energy distribution day by day. With some definite advantages of the blockchain technologies, the utility industry envisions to uncover several unexplored opportunities ahead.
· Energy Trading
The secure and fast transactional process of the blockchain platform lowers the cost of trading and removes the need for any intermediaries. The low cost, which allows smaller energy producers to participate, can increase their reach to the individual solar household. The facility of the smart contract can help in the real-time coordination of production data from solar panels and other installations, executing the sales contracts for two-way energy flows throughout the network. It creates a fair trade between small-large scale power producers and the customers at a lower price.
· Balancing Supply and Demand
The growing planet demands for more energy supply, increasing the challenges for the utility industry to match the supply. The deployment of blockchain technology can temporarily interrupt the charging sessions of customers with electric cars and smartly manage the household batteries to avoid congestion on the high-voltage grids, keeping the supply and demand balanced. The flexibility of the trading platform enables the demand side to balance the networks and leverage high levels of renewable generation on the grid.
· Energy Distribution
Electrification for some parts of the world is still expensive and tough to access. Blockchain platform initiates the idea of selling future energy production from planned renewable generation to raise capital. Prepaid solar energy system to off-grid, low-income households and business, allows accessing solar energy through small-scale mobile repayments. Renewable energy developers can secure more accessible financing by selling parts of their energy production capacity directly to the corporate energy buyers through a smart contract for power purchasing agreement.
· Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
The blockchain technology coordinates with the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points to orchestrate the charging station network autonomously and navigating the drivers for the nearby stations. Automatic, secure, and peer-to-peer energy payments make the whole process faster and easier to perform. The relevant applications developed on the base of blockchain technology offer a seamless charging experience, connecting cars with nearby residential and commercial charging stations.
· Renewable Energy Certificates
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are given to the producers and manufactures based on the generation estimates and forecasts. Here sensors paired with smart contracts can record accurate data to a blockchain ledger, enabling the RECs trade based on actual energy production to streamline trade verification and data indexing.
Exploring the depth of the utility industry, blockchain continuously fosters several potentials and possibilities. Recently, the distributive ledger technology is grabbing attentions of global sectors and experiencing acceptations at various industrial levels. Blockchain promises transparency, tamper-proof, and secure systems, attracting the novel business of utilities to collaborate and bring brilliant energy solutions.
