Power Ledger has announced a partnership with renewable energy developer, owner, and operator Clearway Energy Group (“Clearway”) to develop a platform to trade Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in the United States.
In at least 29 U.S. states, electricity companies are required to supply a portion of their electricity from renewable sources each year. Many companies purchase RECs as a way of meeting their mandatory clean energy quotas.
RECs are tradable commodities that represent proof that one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource.
“Power Ledger is applying our proprietary technology to the evolving market for trading digital energy commodities. This is a market that’s often criticized for being opaque, but blockchain technology will make it more efficient, secure, and provide greater transparency,” said Power Ledger executive chairman and co-founder Dr. Jemma Green.
“We will be able to track RECs on a blockchain ledger system from the point of creation, sale and transfer to the buyer, through to the point of retirement of the certificate and the annual sustainability audit.”
Power Ledger’s partnership with Clearway will ensure a swift entry into the environmental commodity trading market in the U.S. due to Clearway’s established footprint of renewable energy assets across the country.
“We believe blockchain trading technology can significantly improve the efficiency of the market for RECs in the U.S. by linking transactional functions within a common platform,” said Clearway Energy Group vice president of asset management Monique Menconi.
“We are excited to partner with Power Ledger to deliver a fully integrated, scalable, and low-cost solution.”
The market for RECs in the United States covers both compliance and voluntary markets and is estimated to be worth over $3 billion annually.
“Whether companies are voluntarily meeting clean energy commitments or satisfying regulatory requirements, there is a need to ensure that renewable energy credits are being properly allocated,” said Dr Green.
“Power Ledger’s environmental attribute tracking platform will provide certainty to both buyers and sellers in this evolving market to give confidence that energy from renewable sources is indeed displacing energy produced by fossil fuels.”
Power Ledger is an innovative technology company that has developed proprietary blockchain-enabled energy trading software. The company’s technology is currently being trialed by energy operators in Australia, Thailand, Japan, and the United States.
