Blockchain project - Renewable Energy Sources - enters the final phase of the tests

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Last week, Tennet announced that, as part of a partnership program with battery supplier Sonnen, that uses IBM's blockchain software, it is launching the first European power stabilization scheme to manage energy flows. In May, it was announced test pilots, now the work has entered the phase of practical application.

The Tennet's board chairman, Urban Keussen, said that the project allowed the company to lead the way on the integration of renewable energy sources into Europe's energy supply.

Blockchain technology simplifies safe and efficient flow control, as new energy sources of power get added to the grid, company representatives said.

Sonnen provides batteries to homeowners who allow them to store power generated at their homes when they are not there. These batteries are connected to the network in the SonnenCommunity. By connecting that network to Tennet’s transmission system, the power distributor can use the stored energy as needed or discharge excess power to the batteries.

"Instead of launching power plants in southern Germany, we we just draw the required electricity from our storage systems," Sonnen managing director Philipp Schrцder said in his statement.

A representative of Sonnen explained that this is not just energy trading, rather, it is making home equipment a part of the real grid infrastructure, not just the end point.

Currently, European transmission operators manage network congestion using costly methods, such as changing power at the power plant level, contracting third-party enterprises for additional electricity and reducing wind power production. According to the representatives of Tennet, such approaches cost the system approximately 800 million euros throughout Germany in 2016.