World Energy Insights Brief | Blockchain: Anthology of Interviews

Technological feasibility and scalability are hurdles to be sure, but the market, or rather those interviewed for this study, are confident that with time, testing and refining of the technology these will be crossed. Energy Web Foundation has assembled an ecosystem of more than 80 energy companies’ affiliates and start-ups interested in blockchain applications in the energy sector. EWF builds open-source, foundational blockchain tools and technology for use in the energy sector.  The EWF collaboration is working to speed up the number of transactions that a blockchain platform can handle as well as the cost effectiveness of the transactions. Additionally, EWF has implemented a proof of authority consensus mechanism that requires the known companies to validate transactions, increasing the potential for regulatory integration

Blockchain in energy is in its infancy.  85% of those interviewed who had use cases said that they were in early stages and their pilots not mature yet

There are alternatives out there; one in particular that we have featured in our work is the alternative from Faraday Grid

Like many new initiatives in the energy world the success of blockchain is very much dependent on a reframing of regulation and large scale customer engagement, but that doesn’t mean blockchain cannot bring immediate optimisation for the existing system.  The transformative nature of blockchain which is P2P is dependent on regulation and customer engagement.