India’s Largest State Will Pilot Peer-To-Peer Solar Energy Trading

India’s largest state of Uttar Pradesh will start a pilot of a peer-to-peer solar power trading project along with the Australian blockchain energy company Power Ledger as we are reading further in the blockchain latest news today.

India’s largest state power utility UP Power Corporation Limited and the UP new and Renewable Energy Development Agency both partnered with Power Ledger to start the P2P solar energy trading and to check its practicability according to a press release a few days ago. The first phase of the project is set to be done by March 2020.

During the trial, Power Ledger will use a blockchain-based platform with a smart meter system that will enable the residents that have a rooftop solar infrastructure to set the prices but to also track energy trading and to settle the surplus of solar energy transactions on the smart contracts. One of the major problems that the renewable energy sources are facing is storing surplus energy when something unpredicted such as wind and sun creates more or less power than needed. This way, the project aims to make it easier for smaller producers to find users to surplus energy and to also make renewable sources viable.

Once the pilot is finished, Power Ledger will examine the results and will continue working with the local government to comply with regulations that enable P2P energy trading. The solar capacity of India’s largest state, with a population of about 200 million, will expand further to meet the growing energy demands. In 2017, the state had about 12,500 megawatts of photovoltaic power generation capacity.

Power ledger already worked on a P2P renewable energy trading in India and at the start of the month, the company announced that it completed a trial in the Dwarka region which is the South West Delhi. Similarly to the pilot project in Uttar Pradesh, the trial in Dwarka will give the participants renewable energy that will be cheaper and will create a better solar infrastructure for the owners to monetize their surplus energy.

India has a proactive approach toward blockchain adoption and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the country even said that it recognizes the potential of blockchain technology.