On October 15, 2018, Kansai Electric Power announced a joint research and demonstration project with the University of Tokyo, Nihon Unisys, and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank to develop a new system for surplus electricity trading that will be able to determine the price of surplus electricity generated by photovoltaic power. The system allows “prosumers”[1] and consumers to trade surplus electricity directly without the involvement of utility companies, using blockchain technologies.

With the widespread implementation of renewable energy, the current power supply system has been shifting from conventional large-scale generation assets to self-sustained distributed generation assets. In the future, it is possible that consumers and power producers will be able to trade electricity directly through a platform. The joint research project was developed based on the expectation that blockchain technologies will be adopted in direct electricity transactions in the future.

The system will be installed at the Kansai Electric Power’s Tatsumi Research Center for demonstration purposes. The surplus electricity generated at the prosumers’ households will be traded with consumers based on the electricity price, which was calculated based on two parties’ desired prices using various methods. The electricity is then traded using blockchain technologies and distributed to consumers. In this project, Nihon Unisys will develop the system, Kansai Electric Power will test the system, and the University of Tokyo will evaluate the research. Mitsubishi UFJ Bank will give advice on applying blockchain technologies to transactions.[2]

[1] “Prosumers” is the term that combines the term electricity producers and consumers, and it refers to consumers who consumes the electricity generated by himself/herself and sells surpluses power to others.