India partners with Australia on solar power trading project
The largest state in India, Uttar Pradesh in partnership with the Australian blockchain energy company Power Ledger is introducing a P2P solar power trading project. This collaboration is still in the trying period but the ambitious plan is to integrate the blockchain-based platform with the improved meter system that will allow the users to set prices, track energy trading and so on. Power Ledger specializes in decentralized renewable energy trading technology and offer the blockchain platform to its customers.
What’s new about this project
In the beginning stages of the project, the solar panels will be installed on all the rooftops of the government offices in Uttar Pradesh with the plans to expand to the whole state.
The main problem that this project aims to tackle is that renewable energy sources struggle when storing surplus energy. Through unpredictable factors like wind and sun sometimes the untraced amount of energy will be either lost, so with this project the partners hope to find users for surplus energy and use renewable sources even more efficient. Once the pilot is completed Power Ledger will share the results and continue its work to perfect the system.
India’s forward-thinking approach to blockchain
This is not the first time that Power Ledger worker with India. The country has been heavily looking into renewable energy, which is crucial considering its growing demand for electricity. And the reason why Utah Pradesh is the first state to execute this is because it has the largest population in India, hitting 200 million. The state is looking to make its energy consumption more sustainable and efficient. Before this Power Ledger collaborated with the Dwarka region in South West Delhi, where the Australian company aimed to again make renewable energy more accessible and to monetize on the surplus energy. The blockchain adoption is also a big priority in India. Just recently the India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that the country fully recognizes the potential that blockchain holds and said that the need for development of a shared infrastructure will be a priority for the country. India has no plans to fall behind to its neighbour China who has been so vocal about their plans regarding blockchain.
Step towards a larger adoption of solar panels
While the first phase of this sustainable collaboration includes generating electricity using solar rooftops and then selling the surplus to neighbouring households and office spaces using the Australian Power Ledger’s blockchain platform. This part of the project should reach its final form by the Q1 2020, and will only include government office buildings in the state capital of Lucknow. India Smart Grid Forum, a government-appointed public-private partnership initiative will be working together with the Power Ledger to oversee the technological details. The project is still in the early stages of implementations but if this project turns out to be successful we will likely be seeing more and more countries engaging with different solar power trading companies. The extra energy that would always wind up getting lost will finally be repurposed and this approach will likely attract more customers too.