Australian Companies Signed Deal to Develop Blockchain-Driven Virtual Power Plants

Power Ledger, a Perth-based energy trading software company, and Powerclub, an Australian electricity wholesaler, have signed a deal to offer households unparalleled authority over their energy usage via blockchain

Power ledger is famed for its blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer framework that prompts energy trading between households. The commercial partnership, therefore, seeks to enable Powerclub users to pool their net battery and solar storage as this will serve as a virtual power plant (VPP). This will make them attain considerable access to wholesale electricity prices prompting more control over what they pay per their energy consumption. 

The blockchain-enabled VPP technology availed by Power Ledger will permit Powerclub households possessing batteries to pool their stored solar power and sell it whenever price spikes and high energy demands are witnessed. 

The Australian Urge for Energy Trading Platforms

The Energy Market Commission in Australia has already spelled out the urge for future grids to act as energy trading platforms. 

Jemma Green, the chairman, and co-founder of Power Ledger stipulated: “The Australian Energy Market Commission has already flagged the need for grids of the future to become energy trading platforms. The future of the energy industry will be decentralized and democratized, like what we’ve seen happen to the taxi industry with rideshare apps like Uber and Ola. You no longer need to be a massive electricity company to commoditize energy,”

Under the present system, energy consumers do not get value for money as the electricity retailer usually subjects them to additional hidden costs and mark-ups to cater for supply costs. This approach makes high energy prices inevitable in Australia. 

Powerclub’s CEO, Stuart McPherson, stipulated: “If there’s one thing that Powerclub stands by, it’s transparency. We’ve partnered with Power Ledger as we see their technology as being critical in reducing price opacity in the energy market.” 

The blockchain-driven virtual power plant, therefore, seeks to offer households transparency about their energy consumption, as well as empower them economically. 

Image via Shutterstock

Australian Blockchain Startup Power Ledger Deploys Blockchain Grid to Audit Renewable Energy

Power Ledger, an Australian peer-to-peer energy trading pioneer, has announced to have bought a 250 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic system, which will use blockchain-based data management and settlement system. Power Ledger bought the system from Perdaman Advanced energy – an Australian firm – that offers clean energy consulting and project development.   

New Approach for Maximizing Energy Generation and Optimal Use 

After the result of many global trials, global trials, Power Ledger has identified a need for a new product that could harness blockchain vision to offer greater visibility in settlement, billing, and data management for solar assets under a 20-year power purchase agreement.  

The new PV system is integrated on PPA (Power Purchase agreement) to ensure renewable energy trading becomes more transparent (to offer greater transparency on renewable energy being sold to customers). The PPA vision is meant for renewable energy assets like rooftop solar panels and cross-regional power grid PPA supply arrangements. 

The 250kW PV system will be launched in Maddington, Western Australia, with intentions to further the adoption of solar energy across the country. Dr. Jemma Green – Power Ledger executive chairman and co-founder – said, “Our trials with governments and energy retailers across the world have identified the demand for a product which enabled autonomous settlement and management of energy production and consumption.” 

Dr. Green further mentioned, “Traditional billing and metering systems can be inaccurate. Power Ledger’s technology prevents overcharging and loss of revenue simultaneously. Australia’s energy regulator is calling for the adoption of a new form of the two-sided energy market. Power Ledger possesses the technology to facilitate such a transition.” 

Vikas Rambal – Perdaman Advanced Energy chairman – said, “The involvement of Perdaman Advanced Energy in this project shows our organization’s multi-pronged efforts to build a better tomorrow by delivering clean energy solutions that decarbonize our economy and bring down the costs of carrying out business in Australia.”  

Tailored PV Components   

Power Ledger’s technology can be tailored to suit the need of any energy built and market and has several products that manage renewable energy credit markets and enable energy trading. 

For instance, a local council or a business that enters into PPA program with a renewable energy generator can directly integrate with Power Ledger’s platform. Generators can customize the energy trading and tracking software to suit the regulatory requirements of businesses, governments, and local councils to help them reach their renewable energy targets. 

Power Ledger can also integrate its technology with asset developers, embedded network operators, independent power producers, and PV systems owners. 

Blockchain In Transactive Energy 

The renewable energy, which the Maddington power solar asset produces would be tracked using based on the use of blockchain technology to offer a verified audit tracking of energy dispatched to the grid, energy generated, energy sold from the grid, and energy consumed. The effectiveness of blockchain technology will assist in eliminating any potential error in over or under accounting for revenue. 

Furthermore, the PV system will utilize Power Ledger’s environmental attributes product to automate issuing of large-scale generation certificates and tokenize such certificates. 

Image via Shutterstock 

Power Ledger Wikipedia Page Removed By Biased Crypto-Hating Wiki Editor David Gerard

Power Ledger recently became the target of anti-crypto zealot and Senior Wikipedia Editor David Gerard—who emotionally attacked crypto news sources on the Australian blockchain firm’s Wiki page to have it removed.

Senior Wikipedia Editor David Gerard argued to remove the Power Ledger blockchain firm’s Wiki page while summarily dismissing the reputation of all media sources which supported the project including Coinrivet, Tech Crunch, India’s Economic Times, and popular Australian media like The Age and the Australian Financial Review.

Gerard claims that Power Ledger’s Wiki page is supported by “entirely such promotional churnalism about things that had not happened and that there’s no evidence ever did happen.” He further said that content from crypto news publications is “not usable for claims of notability.”

A Strange Conclusion

In a public online debate between Wikipedia editors on whether or not to delete the Power Ledger Wiki page, the final judgment reads: “This is an extremely messy discussion, but on the balance there is consensus for deletion […] While many sources were provided in this discussion, those sources were convincingly rebutted.”

As mentioned some of these unreliable sources that were rebutted included leading Australian media sources like the Age, Tech Crunch and even India’s The Economic Times—whose own Wikipedia page defines it as “the world’s second-most read English-language business newspaper.”

Gerard also summarily dismissed the reputations and credibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Government’s Austrade website, The Australian, The Hindu, ZDNet, Yahoo and The Australian Financial Review.

It was not without debate, as one moderator called out Gerard for his obvious bias, saying:

“Wishing these sources (The Hindu, ET, AFR, Guardian, ABC are clearly reliable sources) raise their editorial standards and exclude puffery is not an argument for deletion […] Either raise the notability bar in our notability policies to expressly exclude companies like these […] or maintain status quo.”

Citing his interpretation of the guidelines Gerard countered saying that the standard Wikipedia editors follow “specifically covers this variety of nonsense in […] so no, it isn’t just my personal feelings versus yours.”

David Gerard is famously anti-Bitcoin and blockchain even writing a book called of ‘Attack of the 50-Foot Blockchain’— which he described as being about “why cryptocurrencies and blockchains are terrible – all of them”. So it was no surprise that he went after Power Ledger, but the senior Wikipedia editor had to dismiss some very prominent sources to get his decision, and strangely got his way.

Wikipedia is a globally known platform and has been around for nine years, offering vast amounts of data and resources for net citizens to find online. In February this year, it rumored that Wikipedia was looking into Blockchain as a database and storage of its content.

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