Repsol, the Spanish energy company, has recently invested in FinBoot, which is a business with offices in London and Barcelona. FinBoot has been developing a Blockchain-powered platform to improve the efficiency of tracking the multitude of samples that energy companies need to continuously create. Repsol typically has over 60,000 samples it has to create, as refining and transporting petrochemicals requires products to be sampled and checked in order to meet Repsol’s clients’ requirements. “Currently, there is a lot of rework involved in these types of processes where we handle a large number of samples due to labelling errors, information losses, or incorrect connections between information” explains Tomas Malango, at Repsol, adding “it allows us to identify the samples correctly throughout their whole life cycle.” The existing system is largely manual and paper-based, and therefore subject to human error and mislabelling so is time-consuming, as paper records often go missing.
Repsol believes that it could save up to €400,000 p.a. using this new Blockchain platform and FinBoot is now looking at how similar technology could be used to help other industries, such as the fashion sector where it needs to trace the provenance of the materials used in making clothes.
Meanwhile, the co-founder of Apple, Jo Wozniak, has invested in a firm that uses Blockchain technology called ENFORCE project. Wozniak reportedly said “ENFORCE aims to bring money savings on energy, but it also helps the environment”, a factor he said was important to him. He further added, “Blockchain will bring improvements to energy use and reduce consumption without consumers needing to change their habits”.
Where Blockchain technology is being used in the energy sector.
Source: https://www.indigoadvisorygroup.com/blockchain
Indigo Advisory Group, in the chart above, keeps record of various ways globally that Blockchain technology is being used for different purposes, which is updated as it discovers new initiatives.
Blockchain technology is increasingly been used in the energy sector as it potentially provides solutions across the energy trilemma: 1) it reduces costs by optimising energy processes, 2) it improves energy security in terms of cybersecurity, but also acts as a supporting technology that could improve security of supply, and 3) it promotes more renewable energy generation and low-carbon solutions.
In a survey of 140 Blockchain research projects, Science Direct has identified many ways that Blockchain technology could help the energy sector:
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Billing: Blockchains, smart contracts and smart-metering can offer automated billing for consumers and generators. Utility companies could benefit from energy micro-payments, pay-as-you-go solutions or payment platforms for pre-paid meters.
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Sales and marketing: Sales practices could change according to consumers' energy profile, individual preferences and environmental concerns. Blockchains, in combination with artificial (AI) techniques, could identify consumer energy patterns and therefore enable tailored and value-added energy products provision.
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Trading and markets: Blockchain-enabled distributed trading platforms could disrupt market operations, such as wholesale market management, commodity trading transactions and risk management. Blockchain systems are currently being developed also for green certificates trading.
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Automation: Blockchains could improve control of decentralised energy systems and microgrids. Adoption of local energy marketplaces, enabled by localised P2P energy trading or distributed platforms, could significantly increase energy self-production and self-consumption, also known as behind the meter activities, which could potentially affect revenues and tariffs.
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Smart grid applications and data transfer: Blockchains could potentially be used for communication of smart devices, data transmission or storage. Intelligent devices in the smart grid could include smart meters, advanced sensors, network monitoring equipment, control and energy management systems. In addition to providing secure data transfer, smart grid applications could further benefit from data standardisation, enabled by Blockchain technology.
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Grid management: Blockchains could assist in network management of decentralised networks, flexibility services or asset management. Blockchain technology could achieve integrated trading platforms and optimise flexible resources, which might otherwise lead to expensive network upgrades. As a result, Blockchains could also affect revenues and tariffs for network use.
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Security and identity management: Protection of transactions and security could benefit from cryptographic techniques. Blockchain could safeguard privacy, data confidentiality and identity management.
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Sharing of resources: Blockchain technology could offer to charge solutions for sharing resources between multiple users, such as sharing electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
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Competition: Smart contracts could potentially simplify and speed up the switching of energy suppliers. Enhanced mobility in the market could increase competition and potentially reduce energy tariffs.
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Transparency: Immutable records and transparent processes could significantly improve auditing and regulatory compliance.
According to Indigo Advisory Group, the pros and cons of using Blockchain technology in the energy sector can be summarised and illustrated as above. Therefore, one can see how fundamental Blockchain technology could be in the energy sector.
