Today, Aussie blockchain firm Power Ledger announced a partnership with Malaysia’s Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), to pilot its peer-to-peer energy trading platform in the country.
The company is already running trails in Thailand, Japan, the United States and Australia. The trial in Malaysian project is significant as the country is implementing new regulations in the electricity market. It aims to achieve a renewable energy target of 20% by 2025 by leveraging rooftop photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.
Buildings that generate more solar power than they need will be able to sell it using Power Ledger’s trading platform.
Currently, only 2% of the electricity in the country is from renewable sources. SEDA believes Power Ledger’s platform can boost the solar PV market and deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs). “Malaysia has more than four million buildings with rooftop solar potential in Peninsular Malaysia. The trial with Power Ledger will give SEDA better insights into consumer preferences and price model testing,” said SEDA CEO Ir. Dr Sanjayan Velautham.
Earlier this year, The Star Online reported that Malaysia can generate 1.4 times more electricity if all roofs in Peninsular Malaysia are fitted with solar panels.
“SEDA’s partnership with Power Ledger is a great opportunity to testbed energy trading among prosumers and consumers using blockchain technology and understand surplus energy trading in Malaysia’s energy marketplace,” added Sanjayan.
The eight-month trial is expected to start by the end of this year. Power Ledger is running two energy trading trials in Japan, one in the Kanto region and one in Osaka.
In Graz, Austria, households are using Power Ledger’s P2P trading platform to sell excess solar energy. Last month, the company launched a trial in the rural areas of Western Australia to allow commercial buildings to trade surplus electricity between each other.
