EWF will provide a look at the past, present and future of energy blockchain, covering the evolution of investment activity, key use cases and early findings on the real opportunity blockchain technology holds for unlocking significant value for energy players.
6. 6
Our mission is to develop and deploy a decentralized digital
operating system for the energy sector in support of a low-
carbon energy future
Mission
In 2017 we launched Energy Web Foundation
7. We identified “over 100” use cases…
Process improvement (total = 55)Disruptive platforms (total = 52)
13
9
7
6
6
5
5
4
Communication
Grid management
Security
Mobility
Automation
Sales & Marketing
Billing
Metering and
data transfer
26
17
9
Transactive
energy
P2P Trading
Distributed
generation
Additional use cases
• RMI: 27
• Grid Singularity: 30
• PWC: 20
Game changer to potential game changer
Source: DENA/ ESMT survey of 70 German energy sector executives– November 2016
7
8. …and many hypotheses were put on the table
Blockchain will facilitate “peer to peer” electricity markets
Blockchain will disrupt the energy sector
Blockchains consume too much energy to be useful
Blockchains don’t scale (Tx per second)
Public blockchains won’t fit the energy sector
8
14. Answers are emerging
Blockchain will disrupt the energy sector
Blockchains consume too much energy to be useful
Blockchains don’t scale (Tx per second)
Public blockchains won’t fit the energy sector
Blockchain ≠ peer to peer electricity marketsBlockchain will facilitate “peer to peer” electricity markets
Hypotheses Reality
Blockchain = enabler of energy transition
Not the case (see EWC, POS or POA chains)
With smart solution design current scale sufficient
Privacy features needed on public and private networks
14
15. Renewable energy
Electric vehicles
Distributed energy
resources
Most importantly, it is becoming much clearer where
blockchain can unlock value in context of the energy transition
15
15
18. Customers will not want to pay twice
From a utility-driven to customer-driven architecture
Customer-driven
investments
Utility-driven investments
Utility
Customer
kWh
$$$
19. 19
Our assets can – with no owner, no bank, no invoice:
• Have their own identity
• Buy electricity and sell services to the grid
• Post collateral to trades
Blockchain can help market participants build relationships with assets
20. In this context, we’ve identified two primary ways blockchain
technology can unlock value—today—in the energy sector
20
• Today = unbundled
“certificates”
• Tomorrow = whole system
carbon accounting
Tracing energy and
energy attributes
• Leverage digital and
blockchain tech to capture
full value from DERs
Integrating DERs
Intrinsic Data
Relational Data
Operational Data
DER “Passport”
21. In this context, we’ve identified two primary ways blockchain
technology can unlock value—today—in the energy sector
21
• Today = unbundled
“certificates”
• Tomorrow = whole system
carbon accounting
Tracing energy and
energy attributes
• Leverage digital and
blockchain tech to capture
full value from DERs
Integrating DERs
Intrinsic Data
Relational Data
Operational Data
DER “Passport”
23. Integrating distributed energy resources
23
• DERs are not deployed
in any systematic /
coordinated way
• Though technically
capable of delivering
value to multiple
stakeholders, in reality
they are isolated from
grid operations
24. 24
Integrating distributed energy resources
To extract full value
from DERs, we need:
• Access to trusted data
• Multiple stakeholder
groups to agree and act
upon that data
25. 25
Need 1: access to trusted data
• We need to know you
(customer or device) are who
you say you are. Do you have
the attributes you claim to
have?
• In this way, you can be
included / excluded from
market participation
Intrinsic data
• We need to enforce terms
and prevent “double
counting” across services
• We need to agree who can
/ can’t access data and/or
control behavior
Relational data
• We need to know offers
are “real” (coming from the
right devices)
• We need to efficiently
reconcile M&V data
• We need a shared state of
current & planned
behavior
Operational data
26. Need 2: multiple stakeholder groups need access
26
• Backup Power
• Demand Charge
Management
• Congestion Relief
• Voltage Support
• Distribution Deferral
• Frequency Regulation
• Energy Arbitrage
• Reserve Capacity
Customer
Installer
OEM
Utility
Aggregator
ISO/RTO
Regulator
27. 27
• Backup Power
• Demand Charge
Management
• Congestion Relief
• Voltage Support
• Distribution Deferral
• Frequency Regulation
• Energy Arbitrage
• Reserve Capacity
Customer
Installer
OEM
Utility
Aggregator
ISO/RTO
Regulator
Intrinsic Data
Relational Data
Operational Data
DER “Passport”
Need 2: multiple stakeholder groups need access
28. We are building this capability with the EWF ecosystem
28
• Establishes digital
identities (e.g., for
installers, customers)
• Creates a trustless, shared
state of identities and
relationships between
them
EW User and Asset
Registry Enables digital identities to:
• Settle payments at the
device level
• Automatically conduct
EM&V
• Post value (e.g., tokens) in
escrow
• Engage in complex
transactions
EW Flex
Intrinsic Data
Relational Data
Operational Data
DER “Passport”
30. 30
Big technology and architecture questions
• Tech can support today’s
applications
• What about tomorrow’s?
Horizontal scaling &
interoperability
• In a decentralized world,
end users are in charge of
their data
• Will market participants
embrace or resist this
architecture?
Data ownership
• Many different approaches
to maintaining privacy on
blockchains
Privacy preservation
31. 31
By next year’s forum:
~5 minimum viable products leveraging public blockchains will be in the
market
Blockchain increasingly distinguished from P2P & transactive energy
“Why blockchain?” fades
“Private v. Public” evolves into “What privacy features are available?”