Tech Mahindra and Power Ledger are rolling out some technology trials to bring the benefits of energy microgrid innovation, in conjunction with blockchain technology, to India’s booming urban population, the companies announced recently. Tech Mahindra, based in New Delhi, is a provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services. Power Ledger, headquartered in Perth, Australia, is a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer electricity trading platform provider.
At the heart of their new initiative is Tech Mahindra’s Microgrid-as-a-Service, or MaaS, an integrated platform which enables building owners, campuses, “smart” cities, and communities to generate and manage their own electricity affordably. The company says its microgrid technology “allows for a seamless integration of distributed generation within a discreet community, managing power quality, reliability and safety in a low-cost and sustainable way.” And it can be used to trade surplus electricity.
Power Ledger says its blockchain technology creates an immutable record of energy generation and consumption, allowing buying and selling of energy in a simple and autonomous manner with complete confidence.
During the trials, the partners will deploy Tech Mahindra’s MaaS platform integrated with Power Ledger’s blockchain-enabled energy trading capability at test sites in India. The year-long trial will begin in late 2017 at Tech Mahindra’s campuses.
Atul Kunwar, president and chief technology officer at Tech Mahindra, says his firm’s “disruptive technology will provide a model for energy service provision for thousands of communities across India. And this will also benefit markets like the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom for modernization of [their] grids through microgrids.”
David Martin, managing director at Power Ledger, said: “Bringing autonomous, largely renewable microgrids integrated with Power Ledger’s technology to India, in partnership with Tech Mahindra, [will] give us a chance to demonstrate the potential of cutting-edge technologies and unlock the economic opportunities that flow to communities from having a secure energy source.”