Power Ledger claimed the contract after being named the winner of the Alperia Startup Factory Innovation Camp. Power Ledger’s technology, already recognized as a potentially significant Australian digital export, enables virtual power plants for effective renewable energy trading.
Power Ledger beat out 230 applicants from 37 countries to be used by Alperia’s 280,000 residential and commercial customers for energy trading, origin tracking, measurement and verification, as well as the reporting of renewable energy certificates.
“Italy has been leading the adoption of renewable energy globally and is one of eight EU members to commit to phasing out coal by 2030. Leveraging Alperia’s customer base, Power Ledger’s technology will help demonstrate how the country can rapidly progress its green energy targets,” said Jemma Green, Power Ledger’s co-founder and executive chairman.
When feed-in-tariffs for solar ended in 2013, Italians were left with limited options to monetize the solar panels they had purchased with the help of government subsidies. Power Ledger’s technology gives Italian solar users new hope.
“Our technology has already been proven as an effective solution for transacting renewable energy trading and virtual power plants, processing transactions instantaneously as a digital ledger, with price determined by supply and demand in real-time,” said Green.
“Power Ledger’s peer-to-peer trading technology could put our customers in the driver’s seat and give them the possibility to not only protect their investment but maximise their contribution to a carbon-free future,” added Anna Lena Hörter, Alperia’s innovation manager and project lead.
Power Ledger will be tested by Alperia until May, with the potential for an extension and an offer to roll out the technology to its customers at scale.
Alperia launched the Startup Factory in 2018 with WhatAVenture, in a bid to support innovative companies and projects.