Green Energy Trading

This article originally appeared in HuffPost on 1/4/2018.

Elering AS, an independent electricity and gas system operator in Estonia, and WePower a blockchain based green energy trading platform that aims to drive global green energy adoption and promote sustainable living, today announced a pilot project to test the large-scale tokenization of Energy data on the blockchain in Estonia.

As a proof-of-concept system for Estonia, this project is the first of its kind in Europe.

It paves the way for a future practical test that will connect European green energy producers to the Estonian Smart Grid. WePower will integrate its blockchain and smart contract powered green energy trading platform into Elering’s Estfeed data exchange platform, demonstrating nation-state scale tokenization of energy consumption and production data on the blockchain.

I believe this to be a pioneering moment for the global Blockchain ecosystem.

If this proof of concept is adopted worldwide, we will have a blockchain powered energy trading infrastructure absorbing energy from the sun into a token value, and making this amount available for use or trade between billions of people. That’s life-changing technology. Anyone with a solar panel generating tokens is building a tangible asset they can use to heat their home or sell to pay for their vacation.

And Why Estonia?

Let’s look at three reasons why Estonia the perfect nation-state for this proof on concept, and how they can become a model for the world for governmental blockchain adoption.

1. Estonia mandated 100% smart meter coverage for all homes by January of 2017.

With every household connected, an hourly reading, and a central data hub the ideal technical conditions are set to test the true scalability of tokenized asset trading technology. This will help to build a provide a stronger bridge between green energy producers and traditional grid operators, and prove it can work elsewhere.

2. Estonia is considered by many as the most advanced digital nation.

Right on the government website, they say “despite its small population, Estonia is punching above its weight on the global stage,” and I would have to agree.

Aside from being the birthplace of Skype, Estonia is a launchpad for startups and new technology. Estonia’s distributed ledger provides every citizen and resident with a secure digital identity which uses an open ledger technology that is now revolutionizing the ‘blockchain’ name. It has been in use in Estonia for years. They are the proof for the world that for society to fully benefit from the blockchain, governments must get involved and be the central hubs they are meant to be for all people:Healthcare, Tax & Property Ownership, Licensing Regulation, and now, Energy.

3. Estonia is part of the European Union.

Sorry, I don’t mean to make an obvious statement, but it’s important. This project is designed to meet future European Cross-border regulations will be fast-tracked for success if a country like Estonia can prove this model works, vs. a state that would not benefit from the European Union membership shared similar regulations with their neighboring countries. While there will be a cost for cross-border trading of energy, WePower would be perfectly poised to work within existing regulations to make it feasible.

Furthermore, WePower and Elering are a match made in heaven.

You can already view cross-border electricity flow in and out of Estonia on Elering’s website, and it makes sense that if the WePower model is proven that this is the perfect partner to help manage the WePower token units of energy value.

From the CEO’s:

“Elering’s motivation in this project as a transmission system operator, is to enable energy innovation by removing market barriers. For that purpose we have built the Estfeed data exchange platform, which enables people to share their energy meter data with new service providers. WePower is a great example of the potential for innovation in the energy sector that can be unleashed by transparent data access,”

~ Taavi Veskimägi, CEO of Elering.

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Elering AS as the first step in our goals to make the smart grid greener. Estonia is the perfect country to start with, as it already has an existing advanced smart grid infrastructure that we can integrate our technology with. This partnership is an excellent case in point, to show the viability of blockchain technology in the green energy space, and marks a huge achievement towards the creation of a global blockchain energy powered trading network.”

~Nick Martyniuk, Co-Founder, and CEO of WePower.

This is one of the most exciting, and as I mentioned, pioneering blockchain companies on the world stage today.The use of Ethereum ‘Smart Energy contract’ tokens to standardize, simplify and globally open the current existing energy investment ecosystem,ensures liquidity and extends access to capital.

WePower wants to help build an infrastructure to bridge renewable energy producers output and traditional energy grid operators thus making the grid a little greener. And beyond this, it will empower the citizens in generating power.

Learn more about this token model, read the white paper, and explore their new relationship with Elering. I think it will be well worth your while.