Siemens is launching blockchain electricity trading platform in Germany

• Germany is getting its first blockchain electricity trading platform.
• The platform is being developed by one of the leading tech giants, Siemens.

It no longer news that blockchain technology has a lot of potentials, as it is being harnessed across several industries to boost and modernize operations. Today, the Munich-headquartered German multinational conglomerate company, Siemens, is set to launch a blockchain electricity trading platform in a municipality in Germany. This would make the first time blockchain is harnessed to modify the energy market in the country.

German’s first blockchain electricity trading platform

Dubbed Pebbles, the blockchain electricity trading platform – which is currently in the demo phase – is being developed under an initiative between Siemens, Allgäuer Überlandwerk (AÜM), the biggest regional supplier of electric energy, and other entities. Basically, the blockchain platform is being developed to streamline the operations of the local energy market as well as electricity trading in Wildpoldsried, a region in the Bavarian Allgäu.

According to the report on Monday, the blockchain electricity trading platform allows private energy producers to interact with local buyers through a mobile application. In this approach, the producers can be able to directly market their electricity without any need for intermediaries or undergoing the traditional grid operators. In addition to managing the transactions on the platform, blockchain technology will be essential to maintain trust and transparency between the buyers and energy sellers.

While commenting on the development, one of the officials at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Sabine Erlinghagen, said:

“This makes a vital contribution to the government’s energy and digital policy goals as well as to the energy transition in the Allgäu region.”

Blockchain era

The blockchain electricity trading platform Pebbles also gained financial backing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. With the aim of helping energy producers avoid the bottlenecks in the grid through flexible and enhanced trading, the Pebbles project is expected to also result in a reduced cost for transferring energy. 

In June, Japan’s TEPCO Holdings announced a similar plan to launch a blockchain-based electricity trading system for Japanese.