News

ETIBLOGG at SSWII Panel Discussion at Hannover Messe Digital Edition

Hanover, April 26, 2021

In mid-April it was that time again and the Hannover Messe Digital Edition opened its digital doors for the first time. Due to the pandemic, all events of the Hannover Messe took place completely digitally. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy invited four research projects from the technology program Smart Service World II to a digital panel discussion on the topic of  „The future belongs to smart services: status quo and development of smart services in Germany“. ETIBLOGG was allowed to be there alongside Digitale Teams, DigitalTWIN und Smart MaaS – Mobility as Service project.

On Wednesday, 14.04.2021 from 12:00 to 12:25, the host Guido Zinke, head of the accompanying research on the Smart Service World, discussed with Fabian Schmid (DigitalTWIN), our ETIBLOGG consortium leader Simone Gitschier (ETIBLOGG), Detlef Olschewski (Smart MaaS – Mobility as a Service project) and Michael Ochs (DigitaleTeams) about developments of Smart Services. Before going into the Q&A session, all four SSWII projects presented their projects individually and told what kind of results were achieved in the projects during the three years of research activity. This was followed by two rounds of questions to the panelists.

What our consortium leader Simone Gitschier answered to the question of what happens next and whether ETIBLOGG will be launched, you can still watch for a short time at Hannover Messe Digital Edition.

So if you missed the appearance of ETIBLOGG and the other SSWII projects at Hannover Messe Digital Edition 2021, you can find a recording of the livestream here.

Three years of ETIBLOGG – what has happened so far

Hanover, April 13, 2021

Another year has passed, but what a year. The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects also left its marks on ETIBLOGG. Despite everything, ETIBLOGG celebrates its third anniversary on April 1st 2021, so let’s briefly review the last 12 months:

• We have reached the next two milestones. This includes a prototype for measurements in test environment. The design and implementation of a blockchain implementation adapted to industry-oriented embedded devices for the ETIBLOGG trading platform has been implemented in our blockchain device. Another milestone was the prototype of the blockchain cloud. We put into place the prototype implementation of the blockchain network, as a basis for energy trading in local networks. This includes an implementation of secure data transmission from the blockchain devices to each other and in connection with the blockchain cloud.
• We have participated in more than 17 digital conferences, workshops and other online events to present the ETIBLOGG project – we are still happy about the great interest!
• We have developed the concept for implementing the real-world demonstrator at Fraunhofer IISB by allowing PV systems to trade electricity with charging stations in real time.
• Currently, we are implementing the real-world demonstrator at Fraunhofer IISB in Erlangen.
• We participated in the Energy Cluster Workshop and the Summer School 2020 as part of the Smart Service World II technology program. Here we got insights to UIX design and the topic of utilization.
• We inform LinkedIn members about the ETIBLOGG project via our LinkedIn account on a weekly basis. We really enjoy keeping you informed this way.

Unfortunately, the project is coming to an end, but we are still looking forward to exciting and great experiences in the remaining two months.

Innovation Report 2020 of the Smart Service World II

Hanover, January 25, 2021

In mid-December 2020, the Innovation Report 2020 of the Smart Service World II technology program funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy was published. This report gives an insight into the progress of the current 18 SSW research projects as well as on the current technological, economic and legal-regulatory developments in the environment of the respective topics.

In the area of Smart Services for sustainable energy supply, ETIBLOGG is also represented. As summarized in the Energy Innovation Report 2020, all four collaborative funding projects are developing decentralized, blockchain-based systems for local energy markets or power-sharing communities that offer significant potential and economic benefits for the future energy system. „Together, the projects provide a toolkit for building local energy supply networks that are profitable for participants and thus open up attractive business models beyond the Renewable Energy Act,“ according to the 2020 Innovation Report.

More information on the report can be found here. The Innovation Report is published in German only.

Smart Service World accompanying research published infographic: Smart Service World II – Living more sustainably digitally

Hanover, January 18, 2021

As part of the Smart Service World II technology program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the associated accompanying research (Institute for Innovation and Technology (iit)) published the digital infographic „Smart Service World II – Living Digitally More Sustainably.“ at the end of 2020.

In 2015, the member states of the United Nations (UN) adopted the 2030 Agenda, which is based on the vision of preserving our planet for future generations while improving the living conditions of the global population. 17 Sustainable Development Goals have been defined to express this vision.

The accompanying research of the Smart Service World II examined in how far the 18 funded research and development projects (R&D) contribute actively to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN).

The ETIBLOGG project provides the following contribution to 5 sustainability goals:

• Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy): Strengthening and establishing island grids by increasing reliability and self-sufficiency.
• Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure): Innovating energy market processes and infrastructure through blockchain technology; Deploying new embedded software and embedded security.
• Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): The current ETIBLOGG real-world demonstrator will show how PV systems with charging stations for e-mobility jointly trade and exchange micro-energy among themselves.
• Goal 12 (Sustainable consumption and production): Efficient energy use by private individuals and raising awareness through online monitoring of energy consumption.
• Goal 13 (Climate protection measures): Increasing the stability of the power supply.

As the infographic shows, „digitization and sustainability must be thought of together and this also applies to the development of smart services.“
You can find the digital graphic here. (Only in German)

Merry Christmas!

Hanover, December 18, 2020

ETIBLOGG wishes you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a magical holiday season. Stay healthy and see you again in 2021!

Publication „Blockchain and Energy: A bibliometric Analysis and Review“ by the University of Hamburg

Hamburg/Hanover, December 16, 2020

At the end of the year, ETIBLOGG colleagues Lennart Ante, Fred Steinmetz and Ingo Fiedler from the University of Hamburg published their article “Blockchain and energy: A bibliometric analysis and review” in the journal “Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews”. The ETIBLOGG team is very happy that this article has been published in a prestigious energy journal (ranked 10th out of 858 energy journals). Already at the end of last year, our colleagues from the University of Hamburg reported the results from their bibliometric analysis in our consortium meeting.

So what is it about?

In their article, the authors examine the literature on blockchain technology and energy using the underlying references of 166 peer-reviewed publications via co-citation analysis. The following six distinct research streams were identified using exploratory factor analysis (see also accompanying chart):

1. Energy market innovation and transformation (through blockchain Technology)
2. Blockchain technology for data sharing and security
3. Energy management in smart grids and scalable Systems
4. Information transmission across networks and its application
5. Peer-to-peer energy microgrids
6. Potential of blockchain Technology

For each of these research areas, the main articles were reviewed. In addition, relationships and interdependencies between the research areas were revealed using social network analysis.

What was the goal of this study and which insights were gained?

Through the study, a scientific foundation for researchers in the field of blockchain and energy has emerged, providing the opportunity to identify future research streams and research gaps.

The findings reflect the fact that the potential of blockchain technology as a complementary infrastructural building block in the transformation of the energy sector is still a recent discovery. As energy markets are system-critical, an unproven technology must not be adopted on a large scale within a short period of time.

Given the various uncertainties surrounding the technology, its management and development, blockchain should become a public good and public infrastructure for energy use cases, offered and managed by states or supranational bodies. This will provide legal certainty, reduce governance risks, and ensure continued neutral development of the technology.

Testing of applications and concepts that are not possible from a legal perspective should take place within regulatory sandboxes to ensure that blockchain technology is regulated in an innovation-friendly manner.

Future research should focus on (among other things) the needs of consumers, prosumers, and producers to clarify the extent to which proposed blockchain solutions will provide real benefits, what economic incentives need to be created, and what regulatory frameworks should be generated.

The findings from the University of Hamburg study are also reflected in our implementations at the various ETIBLOGG demonstrators. Here, too, we encounter regulatory obstacles and skepticism towards this new technology. With the current real-world demonstrator, we are creating a building block in the transformation of the energy sector and showing a complement to existing energy trading using blockchain.

The detailed contribution of our colleagues can be found here.

ETIBLOGG-Consortium Meeting on October 13, 2020

Hanover, October 20, 2020

On October 13, 2020 the ETIBLOGG Consortium meeting took place completely digitally due to the COVID19 pandemic. Besides the eight project partners, representatives of the DLR project management agency and the accompanying research iit were present virtually. The meeting’s aim was to present the experiences of the past months to all participants. The six partners gave insights into results, milestones and risks of the six work packages as well as an outlook to the upcoming steps. The two scientific institutions ESMT and the University of Hamburg reported on their research results and upcoming publications. In total, the project team has successfully and on time implemented two milestones within ETIBLOGG during the year 2020:

• Prototype of the Blockchain Cloud
• Prototype for measurements

This means that seven of the eight milestones planned for the entire project have been implemented. The team is currently working on the eighth milestone, the real-world demonstrator.

In the real-world ETIBLOGG demonstrator, a near-real-time, secure P2P power trade between charging stations for e-vehicles and photovoltaic systems is implemented. This is all done on the premises of the project partner Fraunhofer IISB in Erlangen. There, an e-vehicle driver can charge his e-vehicle according to his pre-determined preference. He can decide whether he wants to charge his e-vehicle with mainly renewable electricity from the PV systems on site or with particularly cheap electricity within his charging time window. In contrast to the previous ETIBLOGG demonstrators, where the different participants and systems were simulated by batteries, now in the real-world ETIBLOGG demonstrator actual PV systems and charging stations trade electricity with each other. To make this possible, the ETIBLOGG Blockchain-Device (BCD) comes into play again. There is a change here as well. So far, the BCD has been implemented in the environment of a Raspberry Pi. In the future the Raspberry Pi will be replaced by a NXP solution. The completion of the real-world demonstrator is planned for the end of the year.

Therefore the focus of the meeting was again on the technical implementation of the blockchain device and the connection to the different systems. In the case of the real-world demonstrator to the backend of the charging stations and to the PV systems, in order to enable the control of the systems as well as the trade communication between them.

An overview of the measures for the transfer of results and public relations were also on the agenda, as well as the discussion of the next steps within the project, which will be completed by the end of Q1/2021. Despite its digital character, the consortium meeting was a lively event due to several questions and ongoing exchange between the participants.

All participants were very satisfied with the course of the day and everyone could see that the ETIBLOGG project has been successfully implemented so far. The whole ETIBLOGG team is looking forward to the next steps and to the finalization of the real-world demonstrator within the project.

ETIBLOGG participated in the digital Blockchain Autumn School 2020 of the BCCM of the Mittweida University

Hanover/Mittweida, October 15, 2020

For the fourth time, the Blockchain Competence Center Mittweida (BCCM) of the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences organized its Blockchain Autumn School (BAS2020) from September 28, 2020 to October 2, 2020. ETIBLOGG participated with a guest lecture this time.

The Blockchain Autumn School is an event for education and training in the field of Blockchain. This year, there were for the first time industry-specific practical lectures and a Blockchain Scientific Track in addition to lectures and a series of practical sessions.

The entire event was web-based and free of charge. Anyone interested in the topic of Blockchain could participate. From expert audiences to beginners, all kinds of different participants joined the event.

Within the framework of the sector-specific theme days, ETIBLOGG had a 45-minute technical lecture on Monday, 28 September 2020 in the field of „Energy and Utilities“. Our consortium leader Simone Gitschier presented the project and its results so far in a session titled „Blockchain-based real-time trading for the stabilization of local, regional and supra-regional energy networks“. The presentation was rounded off with an interesting question and answer session.

Besides ETIBLOGG, two other energy cluster projects from the Smart Service World funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, joined: BloGPV and SMECS. They also introduced their respective projects and results.

ETIBLOGG was very happy to participate in BAS2020. Many thanks for the great organization to the BAS2020 team. We are looking forward to the BAS2021!

Please find further information about BAS2020 here.

ETIBLOGG was represented at the digital conference PCIM Europe 2020

Hanover, July 27, 2020

Like so many conferences, PCIM Europe took place digitally this year in July 2020. PCIM Europe is a leading international trade fair and conference for power electronics, intelligent drive technology, renewable energy and energy management. Representatives from industry and science meet here to find out about new trends and developments.

ETIBLOGG was part of Fraunhofer IISB’s guest contribution titled “Four Switch Buck / Boost Converter to Handle Bidirectional Power Flow in DC Subgrids”. The conference lecture was about the development of a non-isolated DC-DC converter, which is also used in the ETIBLOGG Demonstrators.

In the ETIBLOGG demonstrators, this DC-DC converter is used to control the power flow between battery systems according to blockchain-based trading. The converter can run in stand-alone mode as well as by parametrization via CAN-Communication and thus can control the bidirectional power flow in DC-microgrids, both in single and parallel configuration. Next to current and voltage regulation, a MMPT-algorithm (Maximum Power Point Tracking) is implemented, enabling the connection of photovoltaic modules. Experimental results show a maximum power of 300W and a peak efficiency of 97%.

Further information on the research results and the associated documentation by Schulz, Matthias, et al. “Four Switch Buck / Boost Converter to Handle Bidirectional Power Flow in DC Subgrids.” Proceedings of the 2020 PCIM, Nuremberg 2020 can be found here.

Back to School – ETIBLOGG joined SSW’s summer school

Hanover, July 08, 2020

From June 23 until July 3, a summer school organized by Smart Service Welt supported by Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy took place – of course, representatives of ETIBLOGG participated. The online event contained 17 workshops on eight days with about 70 participants altogether.

In the case of ETIBLOGG, the workshop concerning UX Design was particularly interesting. Every project got the task to carve out their own customer journey then presenting it. ETIBLOGG gained a lot out of the feedback from the other participants.

Another formative subject was discussed in workshops about data security. A new and practical Norm ISO 27701 was presented, which can integrate data security in management systems. Also, the summer school dealt with talks about monetization of data and AI-models.

All in all, our ETIBLOGG-team had a great time joining the summer school. The event is a great showcase of a functioning virtual exchange as well as a possibility for further education. Thanks to accompanying research of Smart Service Welt for organizing – we learned a lot, had fun, and look forward to joining the next virtual classroom.

Watch the EUW-Film

Hanover, June 15, 2020

And there comes another one! Shortly after the publication of E-World-film, an interesting interview made while EUW 2019 is now published, too. Some representatives of projects out of Smart Service Welt II explained their research projects. Michael Merz from our partner PONTON explained ETIBLOGG in a concrete way.
Have fun watching!

E-World-Films online!

Hanover, May 27, 2020

In February 2020, when trading fairs were a normal thing, ETIBLOGG participated E-World energy and water in Essen. This is one of the biggest get togethers from experts of the energy sector. Prof. Jens Strüker has been interviewed there regarding the publication “Energierevolution getrieben durch Blockchain” published by ETIBLOGG and other projects out of the program Smart Service Welt II in cooperation with scientific SSWII supporting research. He points out the importance of decentralized energy markets in the future energy trading. The Smart Service Welt II technology program is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. You can read the publication and watch the German film here.
Also, Simone Gitschier from the consortium leader GETEC ENERGIE was interviewed regarding the role of blockchain in the ETIBLOGG project. In this interview she first explains the research projects aim and then highlights how future-oriented the integration of IT into the energy sector is. To watch the German interview, click here.
Have fun watching!

Does Corona affect ETIBLOGG?

Hanover, April 29, 2020

Covid-19 decides on our lives since several weeks now. In Germany, meetings with friends are not allowed – social distancing it is called. The financial damage for the country and even worldwide is tremendous. But what about ETIBLOGG?
Of course, we are affected by the virus as well as everyone else. For the third and last project year we planned to visit several trade fairs like the Hannover Messe and other events. As all bigger events are cancelled until the end of August, this will not happen in the next months. Luckily, we can present ETIBLOGG via videoconference. If you are interested in such a meeting or just want to ask us some questions about ETIBLOGG, you can still do it via mail – so do not hesitate to contact us: info@etiblogg.de
Communication between our team is completely virtual since some weeks. But as our partners being distributed all over Germany, we used this kind of communication before. Therefore, we are already used to GoToMeeting, Teams or WebEx.
Until now, the virus does not affect the further workflow. Despite the limitations, a user case at the Fraunhofer Institute IISB should be implemented as a real demonstrator. However, as the institute’s laboratories are currently restricted and can only be entered with strict precautions, the technical implementation still has to wait. Yet, all other steps can be carried out as planned and we are optimistic that we will successfully complete the last project year of ETIBLOGG.
We are happy to be able to continue working on ETIBLOGG as planned before. Nevertheless, we hope for everyone to get through the current time safe and sound and that we will be able to meet again soon.

Two years of ETIBLOGG – what has happened so far

Hanover, April 01, 2020

Today is the second anniversary of ETIBLOGG. An exciting year has passed by! What we have done so far? Here is a little summary:

• We reached the next two Milestones. This includes an evaluation of various approaches for the hierarchical structure of the Blockchain cloud on a technical basis. Furthermore, the trading framework and the design of processes and interfaces were created. All of the findings from the milestones have been applied to our demonstrator in Erlangen or to our mobile demonstrator “Eddi”.
• The fair demonstrator ‘Eddi’ was first introduced at EUW.
• Since July, we have a profile on LinkedIn! You don’t follow us yet? Well, better late than never. Click here for our LinkedIn profile!
• In the last year, we attended two trade fairs, eight workshops, hold 16 speeches and had so many exciting talks – thanks again for the great interest in ETIBLOGG!
• In the frame of the EUW in November 2019, we created a flyer. You can have a look at it here.
• Our whole website got a new look! Since July 2019 there is also an English version.
• We also made a project film in Hanover and Erlangen, to see here and we participated at events in the Smart Service World II, such as the event “Tage der digitalen Technologien”.

We look back on two great years of ETIBLOGG – and also, we look forward for another exiting year!

Article about the Research Projects of „Smart Service Welt II“

Hanover, March 31, 2020

The magazine 50,2 published an article about ETIBLOGG and other research projects from the technology program “Smart Service Welt II” in its online and print version. Besides the written descriptions, one can have a look at graphics describing the projects in an understandable way. Regarding ETIBLOGG, the picture shows the peer-to-peer-trade of local energy between producers, consumers and prosumers.
The German article is readable here: https://50komma2.de/w/blockchain-im-energiehandel-kommt-es-zur-ketten-revolution/
The German magazine is readable here: https://issuu.com/mende-sig-media/docs/502_2-20_web

ETIBLOGG participating economic conference in Neuss

Neuss, February 14, 2020

Mid-February 2020, the third economic conference concerning the structural change in the region Rhein-Kreis took place in Neuss. ETIBLOGGs project manager Simone Gitschier participated the included discussion by giving advices gained through the previous project process.
The conference started with two talks given by Arndt G. Kirchhoff (Chairmann of Landesvereinigung der Unternehmensverbände NRW) and Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker (undersecretary of state of the German Ministry for Economy and Energy). Kirchhoff began by explaining requirements for an efficient structural change. Winkelmeier-Becker continued with an overview of the actual status of the law regarding the structural strengthening.
In the following discussion moderated by Tom Hegermann the challenges and chances were discussed. Among Kirchhoff and Winkelmeier-Becker, Dirk Brügge (Director of Rhein-Kreis), Thomas Görgen (Covestro) and Simone Gitschier (ETIBLOGG) also participated. The outcome showed that the integration of the communication with the involved people who live in the area is one of the main challenges. To have an efficient structural change, the responsible persons need to make them feel safe during the change.

ETIBLOGG in pv magazine

Hanover, February 11, 2020

Tom Kraus, member of the supporting research of the program „Smart Service Welten II“, focuses on the current transition from mere energy consumers to prosumers. He points out the importance of establishing new ways for energy commercialization. One interesting path is the implementation of blockchain technology – which leads him to ETIBLOGG.

The whole article is readable here: https://www.pv-magazine.de/2020/02/11/lokaler-energiehandel-mit-blockchain-die-energiewende-antreiben/

Article mentioning ETIBLOGG in „Zeitung für kommunale Wirtschaft“

Hanover, February 11, 2020

An article on all the energy Projects of the federal Technology Support program „Smart Service WeltenII“ lead by the German Ministry for Economy and Energy. It also refers to a publication by all their energy Projects and provides a link to download the text.

https://www.zfk.de/digitalisierung/smart-energy/artikel/8d9bf18c024fb604bf315eba4db6453d/blockchain-technologie-soll-energiewende-vorantreiben-2020-02-11/

E-World 2020 – what a week!

Essen, February 11-13, 2020

Last week ETIBLOGG participated the E-World in Essen. In our project partners booth, visitors could see the fair demonstrator. We enjoyed explaining how the demonstrator works to all the ones interested – thanks again to PONTON for sharing their booth with us!
On Thursday, Simone Gitschier, Michael Kreuzburg and Alexander Krutwig talked about ETIBLOGG by giving three exciting presentations. We were happy about such many interested people and all the talks and discussion afterwards.
The trade fair showed us again, that ETIBLOGG is a project dealing with relevant and up to date-topics which require further discussions and research.

Watch ETIBLOGG in motion

Hanover, February 10, 2020

After having a film shooting in November 2019, the final ETIBLOGG-Film is published! The filming took place first in the Headquarters of the consortium leader GETEC ENERGIE GmbH in Hanover, second at the Fraunhofer Institute IISB in Erlangen where the demonstrator was built. The short film should give you an overview about ETIBLOGG and the usage of blockchain in the energy supply. Have fun watching!

SSWII-Publication „Energierevolution getrieben durch Blockchain“

Berlin, February 06, 2020

In January the issue by the SSWII and their four research projects BloGPV, pebbles, SMECS and ETIBLOGG was published. The release is about possible solutions based on blockchain and the current technical and economical challenges the energy transition must deal with. Also, this publication points out that through selective adjustments of the regulating framework a successful integration of the local energy grid can be supported. If there are no adjustments, a threat of the energy system could be the consequence.

Read the publication here:

https://www.digitale-technologien.de/DT/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/Publikation/SSW_Energierevolution_getrieben_durch_Blockchain.html

Accelerator of SSWII-Projects in Hannover

Hanover, January 29, 2020

In the last week of January, the accelerator workshop concerning current challenges of the energy projects‘ business model development took place in the headquarters of GETEC ENERGIE GmbH in Hanover. Besides ETIBLOGG, representatives of BloGPV and the supporting research also participated. The workflow was constructed by the four cross-sectional themes regarding the development of the projects’ business model, legal basic conditions, IT-security and standardization. In each round the projects were involved into one of these issues. The workshop ended with the presentation of the results continued by a foresight. Again, we had a good time working together with exciting conversations and valuable interactions.

ETIBLOGG in energy 4.0

Hanover, January 27, 2020

In the end of January, an article concerning ETIBLOGG written by project director Simone Gitschier was published. The text explains the projects aims, names some of the involved partners and their tasks within the research project. The article is closed by giving the reader an outlook into the future phases of ETIBLOGG.
The German article is readable here: https://www.industr.com/de/effizienter-handel-von-kleinstmengen-2466666

ETIBLOGG invited in Ulm

Ulm, January 27, 2020

On January 27, 2020 ETIBLOGG and other SSWII-projects were invited to participate in a workshop organized by the city of Ulm. The aim of this meeting is to have an exchange between the projects and the city of Ulm.
In the beginning of the workshop, the participants were introduced to the projects in the frame of “Ulm. Zukunft. Stadt.” and “Zukunftsstadt Ulm”. Then, the SSWII-projects including ETIBLOGG were presented. After that, the workshop was specifically about the urban lab “Quartier Eselsberg”. This is a project where possible ways for the urban development should be tested. ETIBLOGG was mainly involved in the discussion about the category “Umwelt, Energie, Ver- und Entsorgung”.
The whole workshop was a success for the city of Ulm as well as for the SSWII-projects. Through deep discussions ETIBLOGG earned interesting insights into new aspects, which we will consider in our following work process. Thanks again to the city of Ulm for the invitation!
More information to the urban lab “Quartier Eselsberg” here:

https://www.ulm.de/rathaus/ortsteile-und-sozialräume/sozialräume/sozialraum-eselsberg/quartier-alter-eselsberg

Statement of the SSWII-Projects regarding the discussion paper „Die Blockchain-Technologie – Potenziale und Herausforderungen in den Netzsektoren Energie und Telekommunikation“

Hanover, January 15, 2020

In the frame of the BNetzA-consultation, the four projects BloGPV, pebbles, SMECS and ETIBLOGG composed a statement. The discussion paper written by the Federal Network Agency is about potential ways for integrating the blockchain technology. The energy projects answered in this regard eight questions. ETIBLOGG gave a single statement about the question if there are any other relevant subjects in connection with blockchain technology. We described the difficulties in the implementation of the technology into the energy industry. At this point, more research is needed.
More (German) information here.

Merry Christmas!

Hanover, December 18, 2019

ETIBLOGG wishes you and your Family a wonderful Christmas and a magical Holiday Season. See you again in 2020!

ETIBLOGG presented in Neuss/Dormagen

Neuss, December 03, 2019

Simone Gitschier from the consortium leader GETEC ENERGIE participated at “Was bewegt Startups?” at the Chempunkt in Dormagen. During the event, organized by Markus Quenter from the local union for middle-class and economic (Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion in Rhein-Kreis Neuss), ETIBLOGG and three other startups were presented. After a short welcoming speech, a panel took place regarding the ideal choice of location for startups. The participants, representatives of each startup, discussed several aspects for this purpose. Some of them were:

– Is proximity to universities and research institutions important fir startups?
– Do funding programs from municipalities and cities play a role?
– How should support for regulatory frameworks look like?
– Is the location important for the startup at all or can everyone communicate with each other digitally?
– How should a location look like?

Afterwards, an energy-panel took place, in which every participant could present its project in detail. During a get-together in the end ETIBLOGG introduced the demonstrator to the visitors. They showed a high interest in experiencing the blockchain-technology live. More about the event’s program: https://chemlab-nrw.de/events/detail/was-bewegt-startups/

ETIBLOGG at the European Utility Week – a review

Paris, November 12-14, 2019

From Tuesday, 12th of November until Thursday, 14th of November 2019, the European Utility Week (EUW) took place in Paris. Around 10,000 visitors and 350 exhibitors came together. During the three days of the trade fair, innovative inventions and projects concerning intelligent solutions for the local energy trade were presented – ETIBLOGG being one of them.

Presenting the blockchain demonstrator
At the trade fair booth (L149) of Smart Service World II, projects included in the respective technology program were presented. The ETIBLOGG project proudly presented its trade fair demonstrator. The ETIBLOGG demonstrator is a mobile system simulating a micro grid consisting of local participants. The demonstrator’s three battery systems simulate the local participants’ energy production and consumption. The first battery represents a photovoltaic plant as a producer, the second one symbolizes a consumer, for example a bakery, and a third one acts as a classic prosumer with a home storage system. Visitors could observe the energy exchange as visualizations on a nearby screen. The ETIBLOGG team answered questions of booth visitors and explained more details of the project.

The ETIBLOGG-talk
Another possibility for the visitors to learn about ETIBLOGG was Michael Merz’ talk on Wednesday, 13th of November. The presentation “ETIBLOGG – Real-time energy trading in local grids” was about the current status of the research project, the participating partners and what the project’s next steps. The audience’s great interest in this talk is yet another example of the great relevance and need for sustainable and future-oriented energy supply solutions.

More on ETIBLOGG?
While the trade fair took place, we updated our followers on LinkedIn almost every day. Follow us there, so that you don’t miss any news: https://www.linkedin.com/company/etiblogg

After the first half of the research project ETIBLOGG the team presents the demonstrator at the European Utility Week trade show

Hanover, November 06, 2019

Five companies and three research institutes cooperate on a blockchain-based solution to fully automate the real-time-trade of small quantities of energy. The aim is to implement a local and net-usable energy trade. Therefore, a blockchain device (BCD) has been developed to help establish an intelligent connection from the market to the physical reality. For this to work, every member in the market needs to connect via a BCD with the peer-to-peer-network. Current plant parameters such as photovoltaics or the charge of a battery can be processed to trade-relevant information via the BCD. Based on this information, participant-specific purchase or sales orders can then be placed on the local energy market. In addition, it is possible to use market data for plant control which can result in business benefits for the participants. At the same time, however, network-related flexibility potentials can also be achieved, which are becoming increasingly necessary, especially in the continuous expansion of renewable energies.

Building of the trading fair demonstrator

The ETIBLOGG demonstrator is a mobile model system acting as a micro grid consisting of local participants. Their producing and consuming behavior is simulated by three battery systems included in the trading fair demonstrator. The first battery represents a photovoltaic plant as a producer, the second one symbolizes a consumer, for example a bakery, and a third one acts as a classic prosumer with a home storage system.
To perform the real-time energy trade via blockchain, fully automated trading agents come into action. These can be configured individually and represent every market member. The trade then takes place via a blockchain-based P2P-network. After the trading process has been completed, the BCD initiate a plant control and therefore the physical exchange of electricity between producer and consumer.

Presenting the demonstrator at the European Utility Week (EUW)

ETIBLOGG is part of the Smart Services World II booth (L140) at this year’s European Utility Week in Paris. Visitors can observe the physical exchange and trade of small energy amounts via blockchain technology between the mock-up microgrid users live at the booth. The data exchange between electricity producers and consumers is displayed graphically on a screen. What’s new is that the visitor can see the blockchain processes illustrated by a hands-on example set-up: If the photovoltaics unit produces electricity, it sends a respective sales order into the blockchain. A consumer – such as a bakery – can accept the order via the blockchain and cover its electricity needs. In a next step the electricity is delivered physically.
In the second project phase, ETIBLOGG plans to implement the lessons learned from this demonstrator setting to a real live application – a so-called real-life lab.

ETIBLOGG application Areas

The technological findings from the ETIBLOGG project can be applied to trading electricity locally. This contributes to avoiding local bottlenecks in the electricity infrastructure and reduces the need to export and import electricity from higher network levels. Additionally, ETIBLOGG enables the isolated operation of microgrids.
Depending on the exact set-up, the participants can for example be electricity producers (renewable or fossil based), consumers or third-party traders, offering surplus energy on spot markets and managing balancing groups of different market participants.

Project participants

ETIBLOGG consists of several companies and research institutions from all over Germany. Every single one of them is contributing their expertise to the ETIBLOGG project. Consortium leader is GETEC ENERGIE GmbH from Hanover. The other project partners are: Consider it GmbH, ESMT Berlin, Fraunhofer IISB, Mixed Mode GmbH, NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH, PONTON GmbH and the University of Hamburg.

You are welcome to visit ETIBLOGG at the booth of Smart Services World II (L140) during the European Utility Week. You can also contact us before the trade show and make an appointment.

Meeting of ETIBLOGG consortium on October 14, 2019

Hanover, October 18, 2019

On October 14, 2019, the ETIBLOGG consortium meeting took place in GETEC ENERGIE’s headquarters in Hannover. In addition to the eight project partners, representatives of the project sponsor DLR and accompanying research were present. The aim of the meeting was to present the results and experiences of the past months to all participants. Thus, each leader of the six work packages presented the goals, milestones, outcomes, risks, and the next steps in detail to the participants. Additionally, the involved scientific research institutions presented their first results:

– Functional test environment at Fraunhofer IISB in Erlangen
– Creation of a requirement catalog and associated goals to test the demonstrator
– Overview of the actual standpoint of the blockchain -technology
– Report regarding the blockchain-implementation
– Establishment of the trading framework and the specification of associated intersections

In addition, the ESMT presented the first results of the qualitative interviews to the business models. The University of Hamburg gave first insights into the bibliometric analysis regarding “Blockchain & Energy”.
The major highlight of the consortium meeting was the presentation of the trade fair demonstrator which will be presented in more detail to a broad expert audience at the European Utility Week trade fair in Paris in mid-November. The trade fair demonstrator’s objective is to tangibly illustrate the connection between controllable plants and trading via the blockchain using the blockchain devices. A small and independent microgrid – consisting of three batteries and associated blockchain devices – is set up within the trade fair demonstrator. During demonstration, the blockchain devices – consisting of standard Raspberry Pis – control battery systems and precisely set predefined load curves. The integration of the trading logic is the next important step in the following days to complete the trade fair demonstrator. Then, a real-time trade in small quantities of electricity via Blockchain technology can physically be tracked at the trade fair demonstrator.
In the concluding part of the meeting the members learned about the procedure regarding the transfer of the results and the public relations activities. The next steps were discussed together. Before going on to the final question round, the accompanying research presented the past and upcoming activities.
The meeting showed every participant that the project ETIBLOGG is implemented successfully so far. The consortium looks forward to the next steps within the project. Subsequent to the meeting, the project team executed integration tests with the focus on implementing the trade logic on the single Blockchain devices.

ETIBLOGG joined the Accelerator Days 2019

Berlin, September 13, 2019

ETIBLOGG participated on the Workshop „Querschnittsthemen der Smart Service Welt II“ which took place on September 13, 2019. The focus of the event was on legal as well as IT security aspects. One workshop explained how data protection and other information security can be combined in a company. In the workshop “Information Security in Digital Platforms” each project had the opportunity to limit its own digital platform to the individual core elements. The ETIBLOGG team then asked themselves what the requirements for relevant core modules (e.g. cloud infrastructure, blockchain technology) and what the security measures to minimize threats are. To conclude, there was an insight into the former GDPR and initial information on the e-Privacy Regulation. In between there was again a lively exchange among all SSW II projects and the accompanying research.

Hamburg’s Senate recognizes ETIBLOGG as a flagship project for blockchain technology

Hanover, August 01, 2019

Four ETIBLOGG project partners (consider it GmbH, NXP NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH, Ponton GmbH und Universität Hamburg) have been part of an advisory committee to Hamburg‘s Senate. The city state’s governing body sought to investigate opportunities of Blockchain technology. All four Hamburg-based project partners participated in workshops on the topic and shared experiences from the ETIBLOGG project. Excerpts from the ETIBLOGG project proposal even became part of the official document resulting from the consultations with blockchain experts.

Find out more about it here.

ETIBLOGG now on Xing and LinkedIn

Hanover, July 24, 2019

ETIBLOGG has now profiles on LinkeIn and Xing. We will inform you about news regarding ETIBLOGG – come and get connected with us!

ETIBLOGG in ener|gate messenger⁺

Hamburg, July 11, 2019

An article about ETIBLOGG written by Micheal Merz (Ponton) is published in ener|gate messenger⁺. Under the title „Blockchain ermöglicht Flexibilität und lokalen Handel“ ETIBLOGG is named as an example for local and decentralized energy trade. Unfortunately there is only a german version available, but it is readable for free under the following link: