Energy giant backs trial designed to make it easier for residents to sell the solar power they generate
Smart grid specialist Verv has announced that energy giant Centrica has joined its latest community energy trial, which aims to test how blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer trading could help cut emissions and reduce customer energy bills.
The company is undertaking a live trial at a social housing community in Hackney, London where solar panels have been installed on 13 blocks of flats to supply clean power to communal areas.
Verv's artificial intelligence technology aims to test how customers can sell their excess energy to their neighbours.
The trial has been up and running since April and the next phase will now see Verv work with experts from Centrica's retail business British Gas to explore how best to bill customers who are part of a network where energy is being traded and coming from multiple sources.
The project has also recently been officially accepted onto the Ofgem 'sandbox' initiative, which offers regulatory flexibility to firms to help them explore how new and disruptive energy technologies can be deployed.
Peter Davies, CEO and Founder of Verv, said the next phase of the trial would explore how peer-to-peer clean energy networks could work in the real world. "Bill consolidation is a significant component of peer-to-peer energy trading; we need to ensure that consumers get a clear bill which breaks down where their energy has come from and charges them accordingly," he said. "I'm looking forward to this phase as we explore more in-depth logistics of real-world implementation and edge closer and closer to it."
The move follows Centrica's previous £1.9m investment in Verv through its social impact investment fund, Ignite.
Peter Simon, Customer Propositions and Product Director at British Gas, said: "The emergence of new technology such as blockchain has the potential to be a game-changer for businesses and consumers, in this case giving customers the opportunity to benefit from cheap, renewable energy. As a long-standing investor in Verv, we're excited to be taking the relationship on a step further as we look to explore new and better ways to deliver energy to our customers."