London-based energy technology start-up Electron has landed government funding to scale its proprietary blockchain energy trading platform.
Electron will benefit from funding under the government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund after its application was backed by both National Grid and Siemens, who will continue to work alongside Electron on its platform.
The grant is to be used to support Electron’s efforts to scale and integrate its blockchain trading platform and use it alongside demand-side response technologies, allowing customers to be paid to adjust their energy demand.
Electron said its platform was ideally suited due to its ability to allow multiple parties to co-ordinate and share the value of consumer actions. Meanwhile, individual procurers of that demand flexibility can share inherent costs, referred to by Electron as “collaborative trading”.
Paul Ellis, chief executive at Electron, said that blockchain was “not just a technology”, but a “revolutionary new way” of facilitating transactions to allow for more efficient and improved models of co-operation.
The UK power market is a known admirer of blockchain technology and the potential for it to revolutionise billing systems as power grids become more decentralised in their nature.
Ofgem has included blockchain as one of a number of technologies it is currently experimenting with as part of its ‘regulatory sandbox’, which allows cutting edge technologies to be tested outside of the usual regulatory framework to assess any changes that may be required.
