Demand Management, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  January 30, 2019

Fujitsu develops blockchain-based exchange for electricity users

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. announced that they have applied blockchain technology to develop a system for trading related to energy shortages and surpluses among electricity consumers, including factories and retail stores.

The company explained in a statement, “Demand response (DR) is a scheme in which electric utilities and consumers of electricity cooperate to control the amount of electricity used during periods of expected peak demand. An issue, however, is that the success rate for DR controls can be low, with consumers being unable to meet the amount of power savings requested by electric utilities.”

Fujitsu’s new system allows electricity consumers to efficiently exchange among themselves the electricity surpluses they have produced through their own electricity generation or power savings. The company then applied blockchain, and with the cooperation of ENERES, Co., Led, the system was used in a simulation using the actual data of electricity consumption, resulting in an approximately 40% improvement to the DR success rate.

Improvement to the DR control success rate is expected to lead to more consumers participating in DR schemes. Moreover, this will enable the stable supply of electricity and the expansion of renewable energy use, another goal of the DR scheme. According to the statement, “Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Laboratories will carry out further system verification and strive to build a carbon-free society.”