Marubeni Corporation and LO3 Energy, a New York-based blockchain technology vendor, announced on February 20, 2019, that they have launched a blockchain pilot project in Japan. The project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology when applied to the power sector, as well as better improving Marubeni’s understanding of how to provide its customers with additional offerings using the blockchain technology. LO3 Energy, founded in 2012 in New York, has had extensive experience in developing blockchain-based peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading platforms in the United States, Europe, and Australia. Marubeni is Japan’s fifth largest trading company, with a strong electrical and industrial plant business. The global rapid transition of the power sector towards decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization is expected to accelerate P2P energy trading among DERs (Distributed Energy Resources), which are owned and operated by end-users. Marubeni has decided to partner with LO3 Energy in order to be at the forefront of the market change.

In the project, LO3 Energy will use blockchain to create a virtual electric marketplace, helping Marubeni to promote P2P energy trading among its self-owned power generators and its customers/end-users. It will test the virtual energy transaction network through LO3 Energy’s platform, by installing blockchain-enabled meters at energy sources and customers’/end-users’ sites and facilities.