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Siemens Teams Up with LO3 Energy on Blockchain Microgrid

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:52 PM
Rebecca Campbell
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:52 PM

Siemens and New York-based startup LO3 Energy have announced that they are partnering up to collaborate in the field of innovative microgrids through the blockchain, according to a joint press release .

The microgrid, which is being planned for Brookyln and was initially started as a pilot project of LO3 Energy, is now being developed further with the aid of Siemens Digital Grid in the U.S. For the first time, a microgrid control solution from Siemens is being combined with the peer-to-peer trading platform from LO3 Energy called the TransActive Grid.

The combination of a microgrid control solution and blockchain technology will enable a provider of photovoltaic systems on building roofs in Brooklyn to feed excess electricity back into the local grid and receive payments from those who buy it.

Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Siemens’ Digital Grid Business Unit, said that Siemens and LO3 Energy are envisioning incredible opportunities for blockchain technology particularly regarding microgrids and energy systems.

He said:

Its big benefit is, that it permits transparent, efficient trading between multiple participating systems and various stakeholders while taking grid-specific requirements into account.

LO3 Energy is developing a blockchain-based local energy trading platform between producers and consumers in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill, Park Slope, and Gowanus neighborhoods. Preliminary tests of peer-to-peer transactions between neighbors were successfully completed in April 2016.

Blockchain in the Energy Industry

The use of blockchain technology in the energy industry is growing as its benefits become widely known.

In the summer, Australian-based energy company Power Ledger announced that it was aiming to change the way energy trading is done in the country. It planned on achieving this by undertaking trials to determine how individuals buy, sell or exchange excess solar electricity through the blockchain.

solar-panel-windmill
Blockchain technology is already seeing applications in the renewable energy sector.

Through an eight-week trial, the energy company undertook the process of finding out how producers and consumers could trade their energy directly thus helping to save on money while maximizing the use of solar panels.

Not only that, but a recent survey conducted by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (German Energy Agency) and ESMT Berlin, found that 39 percent of executives serving firms in the energy sector indicated that their companies have plans in the future to implement blockchain.

While these are just a few instances of how blockchain is being utilized in the energy sector, it is demonstrating – like in so many other areas – how significant its use will be by helping people to trade their energy to others that proves profitable to both parties involved.

Images from Shutterstock.