Power Ledger to deliver blockchain solar microgrids to 10 Perth apartment buildings

Peer-to-peer energy trading specialist Power Ledger has inked a deal with major property developer Nicheliving to deliver a series of 10 solar and battery microgid powered apartment buildings in its home city of Perth over the coming three years.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, will start with a 62-apartment complex at ‘Sky Homes’ in the inner-city suburb of Inglewood, which will be 100 per cent renewable through an embedded electricity network made up of solar and storage.

Power Ledger says its blockchain technology will track energy consumption and transactions on the microrid and allow the apartment buildings to sell surplus power to other nearby residents, to make most of their self generated and stored solar energy.

“We’re seeing an emerging trend of project developers considering more low cost and low carbon energy supplies during the design phase of their projects,” said Power Ledger co-founder and chair, Jemma Green.

In the case of Nicheliving, which claims to be the largest medium-density developer in Western Australia, the company has been actively seeking more sustainable energy solutions for its residential builds through a joint venture called Connected Communities.

“Power Ledger’s technology enables homeowners to lower their daily energy costs and unlock a new revenue stream by monetising excess solar energy and reducing their reliance on fossil-fuel sourced power,” said Nicheliving managing director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj.

“The relationship with Power Ledger will help us deliver on our commitment to building more sustainable communities for Western Australian homeowners,” he said.

For Power Ledger, the Connected Communities deal is just the latest for the company which, back in 2016, was named by Bloomberg New Energy Finance as one of the global leaders in the development of blockchain energy sharing technology – a major player in the shift to decentralised generation.

For Dr Green, who worked as part of the Cutain University team to roll out the company’s landmark p2p system at the White Gum Valley housing project in Fremantle in late 2016, it is also a key technology to the democratisation of cheap and clean solar power.

“Power Ledger is all about people power: everyday people harnessing the energy of the sun on their rooftops, and effortlessly trading it with their neighbours via our world-leading technology,” Green said at the time.

“It’s our hope, that through adopting the Power Ledger system, consumers and businesses will be able to participate in the roof-top solar revolution, drive down resident power bills and contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

Since then, Power Ledger’s platform has also been deployed on the National Electricity Network (NEM) in South Australia and is expected to expand further onto the east coast within the next six months.

And as One Step reported earlier this month, the company has also announced a deal to deploy its blockchain-based trading platform into Europe, to track and certify the sales of 100 per cent renewable electricity in a deal with French green energy retailer ekWateur.

Power Ledger also has active projects in other countries around the world including Austria, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and the United States.

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