Last week, Australian firm Power Ledger announced it won a contract with Italian energy company Alperia. The blockchain company will work with Alperia to offer its trading platform and other services in Italy.
Under the contract, Power Ledger and Alperia will launch a trial to explore energy trading, origin tracking, measurement and verification as well as reporting of renewable energy certificates (RECs). Power Ledger won the contract as one of the six winners of Alperia’s Startup Factory Innovation Camp, out of about 230 applicants. The trial runs from January to May 2020.
Alperia has 34 hydroelectric plants in Italy, which produce 4,500 GWh of clean electricity every year. Combined with gas and other sources, it serves a customer base of 280,000. The Autonomous Province of Bolzano has a majority stake in the company, and other major shareholders include the municipalities of Bolzano and Merano. The firm is currently developing infrastructure for electric vehicles and has 1,000 charging points.
“Italy has been leading the adoption of renewable energy globally and is one of eight EU members to commit to phasing out coal by 2030,” said Jemma Green, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Power Ledger. “Leveraging Alperia’s customer base, Power Ledger’s technology will help demonstrate how the country can rapidly progress its green energy targets.”
Power Ledger cites the end of feed-in-tariffs for solar in Italy in 2013, which left consumers with limited options to monetize excess solar. Now, the Aussie firm’s blockchain technology will be integrated into smart meters at some of Alperia’s test sites to assess the benefits.
“Power Ledger’s peer-to-peer trading technology could put our customers in the driver’s seat and give them the possibility to not only protect their investment but maximize their contribution to a carbon-free future,” said Anna Lena Hörter, Alperia Innovation Manager and Project Lead.
In the past few months, Power Ledger and has secured deals across the globe. Last week, it announced a partnership with the U.S.-based Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS) to launch a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) marketplace in the country.
The firm recently signed its first commercial deals and is currently running trials in Thailand, Japan, India, Malaysia, its native Australia, and Austria.
