The Growing Importance of Next Generation Energy Trading Platform

Energy Business Review | Monday, January 31, 2022

Blockchain technology enables the efficient implementation of energy trade.

FREMONT, CA: People are aware that electric vehicles are upending the transportation industry. By 2025, China aims to have a quarter of its 35 million annual vehicle sales be electric vehicles. India is pondering bold plans to electrify all automobiles by the year 2032. The United Kingdom has committed to phasing out new petrol and diesel vehicle sales by 2040 and Scotland by 2032. This means that individuals will avoid traveling to the neighborhood gas station to fill their tanks. Rather than that, people will plug in everywhere they can—at home, at workplace parking lots, in retail malls, game parks, and along curbsides. Market behavior will inevitably shift. Suppliers of energy will change. And the way energy markets operate will be altered. Add to this the reality that providers and consumers will use various generation methods, resulting in complex contracts and pricing structures that present meter-based markets will struggle to support. In other words, people will see a plethora of interactions between suppliers and consumers, resulting in marketplaces that are fundamentally different from today's centralized and controlled systems. People believe that to manage the complications.

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The future is 'intelligent'

For the energy trader, bots will provide real-time tracking of the commodity's location and condition as it progresses through the value chain. These bots will be integrated into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. They will have the ability to determine the ultimate payment conditions, paving the path for blockchain-based smart contracts.

Energy markets are becoming increasingly complex, volatile, and unpredictable. Wind generation supremacy is just one indicator of how complex and uncertain the energy landscape has grown. Government subsidies insulate wind projects from full market risk. This is increasing the size of the wind pie beyond what market forces will allow, skewing the energy-generating mix away from the old paradigm.

Consider a scenario where an individual visits his neighborhood grocery and plug in his car for a fast recharge while he shops. He scans a QR code with his phone, and the charging station now knows his supplier's details, allowing for accurate cost allocation. He then returns home and connects his vehicle to the charging station. The car now acts as a power storage device incorporated into the home's electrical system. The network provider manages net consumption—for example, by pulling electricity from the car battery at times of high prices/demand and storing it during times of low prices/demand. The individual receives what was promised at an agreed-upon price, indicating an overall improvement in the consumer-supplier relationship. Within the parameters of the supply agreement, the production/consumption volumes and the corresponding price paid/charged will be managed and certified using blockchain.

Blockchain also cuts costs and processes friction by obviating the need for brokers and clearing houses in the reverse direction. And, while blockchain takes care of the difficulties and inefficiencies, the result will be next-generation energy trading.

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