UK startup attempts to build blockchain infrastructure for the energy industry

Baozou Commentary : Electricity and other energy will produce great losses during the allocation process, thus increasing costs. Therefore, to increase resource utilization, it is necessary to improve the existing infrastructure. British startup Electron uses the Ethereum blockchain to build a platform to provide the energy industry with infrastructure based on the latest technology, improve the efficiency of energy allocation and other links, and thus save costs for enterprises. This move also echoes the British government's plan to upgrade the energy allocation platform.

Translation: Annie Xu

Electron, a British startup, built a platform based on the Ethereum blockchain, collected and analyzed data from 60 energy companies, and found that the blockchain platform can increase the speed of energy allocation of existing suppliers by 19 times, greatly reducing costs. Electron provided simulated data from 53 million meters, hoping to convince energy companies to use a shared blockchain platform.

Paul Ellis, the company's co-founder, said he hopes the platform's potential for efficiency can convince energy companies to upgrade their outdated processes. Compared with the financial industry, most changes in the energy industry have come from regulatory policies.

The energy industry uses shared infrastructure for energy dispatch, settlement and registration. Electron hopes to encourage the industry to move these functions to a shared blockchain platform.

Advantages of blockchain

In the field of registration services, blockchain can be used as a record storage, allowing energy suppliers to obtain asset information and record transaction changes.

Ellis said blockchain can replace middlemen and eliminate friction in innovation in related fields.

Paul Ellis

The Electron blockchain infrastructure will not charge fees directly, but will earn profits through the platform’s commercial service projects, such as property transfer, registration, and allocation services.

This service can also be applied to utilities such as water supply and communications.

Blockchain technology can also enable every household to participate in a peer-to-peer energy network, providing excess energy to the market and requesting the services they need.

Energy regulators can also obtain real-time information on suppliers’ market share, eliminating the need for large-scale market research.

Two-year plan

Electron must convince the energy industry to invest in blockchain technology, rather than having all suppliers adopt a single centralized database from one supplier.

Ellis believes that the platform can be operational within two years at the earliest. Ofgem, as a regulator, has also formulated a plan to upgrade the supplier energy allocation platform.

Electron has raised £400,000 in private funding and two government grants totaling £150,000.

Electron has also developed several tools for connecting Ethereum and the IFS decentralized web project.