ETIBLOGG is short for Energy Trading vIa Blockchain-Technology in the LOcal Green Grid. The research project therefore aims to develop blockchain-based solutions to make trading with even the smallest amounts of energy more efficient and most of all faster.

By working on this project, eight partners out of research or economy come together. Furthermore, ETIBLOGG is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Smart Service Welt II, DLR Project Management Agency and the Institute for Innovation and Technology. To learn more about the involved parties visit our Partners-Page.

With our mobile demonstrator “Edi” we have shown that the blockchain device enables both decentralized, real-time trading and the control of various systems. We are currently preparing everything to implement the previous findings from ETIBLOGG in a public demonstrator for a special use case. This means that there is currently no ready-made solution that can be immediately installed in various systems. We are certain that in the course of the year, by implementing ETIBLOGG in an almost public network, we will be able to gain further insights in order to be ready for use in various use cases.

This is the intersection, where every player in the system can participate. Therefore, there is a blockchain device for each actor in the local grid. Among its tasks are:

• Control of the connected plant
• Configuration of user trading parameters
• Energy trading in the P2P network
• Blockchain access

After an extensive search and thorough evaluation of several blockchain Frameworks, we concluded that PONTON’s WRML ® (read „Wormhole“) is best suited to support ETIBLOGG’s use case. WRMHL is a GDPR compliant, enterprise ready blockchain framework built on JAVA technology, which makes it easy for users to integrate end-to-end business application utilising blockchain technology. It provides a modular architecture separating the application and infrastructure layer, which is based on the Tendermint consensus mechanism.

You can learn more about WRMHL in the published white paper from our ETIBLOGG partner PONTON: https://www.ponton.de/products/wrmhl/

In a peer-to-peer-network (also known as p2p) every participant has equal rights. This means, there is no central point where every information comes together but the involved persons communicate directly. In the example of ETIBLOGG, the energy trade from the producers blockchain device works directly with the consumers blockchain device.

After an extensive search and thorough evaluation of several blockchain Frameworks, we concluded that PONTON’s WRML ® (read „Wormhole“) is best suited to support ETIBLOGG’s use case. WRMHL is a GDPR compliant, enterprise ready blockchain framework built on JAVA technology, which makes it easy for users to integrate end-to-end business application utilising blockchain technology. It provides a modular architecture separating the application and infrastructure layer, which is based on the Tendermint consensus mechanism.

You can learn more about WRMHL in the published white paper from our ETIBLOGG partner PONTON: https://www.ponton.de/products/wrmhl/

The ETIBLOGG trade fair demonstrator is a mobile model system that represents a microgrid made up of local participants. Their pro- and consumption behavior is simulated by using three battery systems including converters within the fair demonstrator. One battery assumes the role (of a PV system for example) as a producer, another a consumer, such as a bakery, and the third battery a classic prosumer with home storage. In order to carry out real-time energy trading via the blockchain, fully automatic trading agents are used that can be configured individually and represent one market participant based on these usage preferences. Trading then takes place via a blockchain-based P2P network. After a commercial transaction has been carried out, the BCD initiates a system control and thus the physical exchange of electricity between producer and consumer.

In a nutshell, a public blockchain is totally transparent, no one has control over it and anyone can join it, while a private blockchain is restricted to those who are allowed by the members to participate and transactions on the network are only visible to members. For the ETIBLOGG use case a private, also referred to as consortia blockchain, was chosen as sensitive data is handled and only the ETIBLOGG partner companies are supposed to have access to this data.

PONTON’s WRMHL framework, which ETIBLOGG has selected, supports consortia blockchains and allows each member to run their own Validator Node. This gives partner companies access to the consensus mechanism enabling them to participate in validating the transactions.

In peer-to-peer electricity trading (P2P for short), various electricity participants are interconnected and act together. Electricity trading does not take place via a central unit, but in a decentral network. This means that all participants can trade and exchange quantities of electricity on an equal basis.