Powerledger (POWR), an Australian technology startup, is trying to revolutionise the renewable energy markets by leveraging a variety of blockchain solutions to alter how energy is purchased and transferred amongst clients.
It is supported by a dual-token system that consists of the Powerledger cryptocurrency POWR coin, an ERC-20 standard cryptocurrency, and the Sparkz token for end-user transactions. It just switched to the more scalable Solana blockchain.
There is a lot to be excited about with Powerledger, including an expanding list of real-world use cases, partnerships with national and international governments, and interest from the Australian government’s renewable energy agency.
What precisely is Powerledger (POWR), how does it operate, and what is the purpose of the Powerledger coin? In this comprehensive guide, we address all of those questions and more. In order to get a sense of Powerledger’s mission and primary offerings, as well as its tokenomics and future plans, we’ll look at some of its core products below.
Real-world uses: the East Village Precinct project
Powerledger (POWR) has advanced beyond the concept stage. The East Village Precinct project near Fremantle, Western Australia, is possibly the most notable of the real-world applications of the technology that are already under construction.
The 36 townhouses that are planned for the precinct will be powered by Powerledger’s 670 kWh community-scale battery, together with nearby housing developments and nearby businesses.
This battery tracks any extra energy it stores and can sell back to the grid via the Powerledger xGrid technology. Residents will be able to exchange energy between their homes via the platform, monetizing their energy holdings.
In principle, xGrid enables the development of a local energy market where “prosumers,” or individuals who produce and use energy, can exchange renewable energy based on demand. On the blockchain, transactions are recorded and completed.
Participants in the xGrid also have the option of exchanging rooftop solar energy for goods from affiliated companies and using a “gifting mechanism” to provide electricity to their neighbours, friends, and local organisations. The latter has particularly notable entrepreneurial potential.
XGrid is being implemented in locations all over the world, including in the Kanto region of Japan, where eight home sites successfully obtained 27% of all imported energy from peers. These sites generate their own energy through solar panels. Additionally, XGrid is being used in
What is flexibility trading?
More people than ever are utilising distributed energy resources (DERs) to power their homes, including microgrids, batteries, rooftop solar panels, and other embedded systems. The MODE Flex platform from Powerledger, which stands for “markets for optimisation of distributed energy,” aims to enable these DER owners to exchange extra energy with one another.
“The rapid penetration of DERs means we now have a distributed system, characterised by bi-directional flows of energy and millions of active prosumers,” according to Powerledger’s white paper. Customers feel their contributions are not sufficiently valued. An extra value proposition presented by a network that enables customers to realise revenue from their DER investments could spur even more investment in distributed renewables and usher in a new era of network management.
MODE Flex eliminates middlemen and third parties, along with the fees they incur, by being a peer-to-peer, blockchain-enabled solution. The graph above, which shows the steady increase in residential solar PV installations, demonstrates that there is a larger than ever potential customer base for flexibility trading systems like MODE Flex.
TraceX: a digital commodities marketplace
TraceX can be used by generators with certificates to sell, utilities looking to fulfil regulatory requirements, and organisations looking to fulfil voluntary green energy targets, according to Powerledger.
Users can purchase and sell renewable energy certificates (RECs) on the blockchain-enabled exchange. The largest REC registry in the US, M-RETS, has teamed with Powerledger to offer its users access to the exchange feature of Powerledger.
The demand for RECs in Europe is increasing more quickly than the supply, according to a recent report. This could result in a significant increase in involvement for the exchange. There is also the intrinsic value of these RECs; as CNBC highlighted, Tesla, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, depends on selling
The dual-token system
On the Powerledger network, POWR is the main utility token; however, Sparkz is another token that is also utilised.
Any end user must purchase the POWR coin, which serves as the contract token or “access permission token,” in order to use any of Powerledger’s platforms. Consider a scenario in which a host wants to create a market for energy sharing similar to the one in the East Village Precinct. To ensure sufficient liquidity in that market, enough POWR must be purchased.
The Powerledger cryptocurrency used at the market level, or what energy-sharing players use to enable peer-to-peer transactions, is called the Sparkz token. The cost of Sparkz is determined by comparison to the local fiat currency. One Sparkz is equivalent to one Australian cent in that country.
Utilizing a
POWR tokenomics
In September 2017, POWR conducted an initial coin offering (ICO), releasing 35% of the total one billion POWR supply while generating more than $25 million. Although Powerledger claimed that token burnings were a component of the deflationary approach, the most recent statistics weren’t made public until more than two years ago. A little more than 2.7 million POWR were taken out of circulation in the first half of 2019. Approximately 463.5 million POWR are in use right now.
50% of every POWR are kept in Powerledger’s wallet, with the company claiming that “some are set aside to provide future finance to the business if the need arises, and others are set aside for prospective customers to encourage adoption, nicknamed the Growth Pool.”
The Powerledger cryptocurrency’s most recent trading price was $0.61.
The Powerledger Energy blockchain
Powerledger stated in July 2021 that it was switching from Ethereum to Solana, citing improved scalability and throughput, with the POWR token continuing to be an ERC-20 standard.
The business also revealed a proof-of-stake (PoS) methodology to boost network security. The organisation carefully selects validator nodes based on stringent performance criteria. For the first four years, staking awards are limited to five million, after which the incentive programme will be reviewed. Five million POWR will be the most a node can stake to promote network diversity.
There will be no predetermined minimum for the number of tokens that a POWR holder can delegate to a validator of their choice. The network is still under construction, so more changes are probably coming.
What is Powerledger planning next?
In the near future, the staking mechanism and Powerledger’s shift to Solana will be closely watched.
In the future, Powerledger intends to launch additional initiatives all over the world, including a partnership with BHP in Chile over the next three years to supply power to isolated areas. Additionally, a number of projects are now being deployed in Western Australia.
The goal of Power Ledger, a blockchain technology and a cryptocurrency (PWR), is to democratise and decentralise the world’s power supply. Peer-to-peer energy trading will be made possible in order to do this and intermediaries like big power utilities will be removed.
Blockchain technology is viewed as a crucial tool by the team behind the Power Ledger platform for overhauling the current energy production and distribution networks. Their presumably new idea entails developing an ecosystem that would allow small communities to sell and distribute their excess electricity without interference from the market’s dominant actors. With the aid of Power Ledger, the platform’s creators seek to address a number of problems with the present energy industry, including:
Energy supply is in need of decentralization and blockchain can help with it.
Power Ledger uses blockchain to build a system that allows users to select the electricity source they desire. They should be less vulnerable to growing grid supply costs as a result, and their influence on energy network management should increase.
Energy market continues to implement age-old distribution and management mechanisms unsuitable for the contemporary demands.
Power Ledger seeks to make trading easier for both energy providers and their consumers by using blockchain to build an electricity marketplace characterised by transparency, auditability, and automation.
Energy prices are rising and this can endanger the whole of economy.
Eliminating middlemen and encouraging individual energy production with Power Ledger should make it simpler for customers and entire communities to get electricity that is more affordable, environmentally friendly, dependable, and in accordance with the needs for renewable energy sources.
Co-creation of energy and self-supply should be given more spotlight, as they are supposed to reduce the pressure on citizens coming from the centralized power authorities.
Power Ledger is aware that the growth of distributed energy resources (DER), particularly in the solar energy sector, coincides with the growth of blockchain technology. This platform wants to be a component of the energy distribution system that supports more straightforward monetization of investments in DER systems and more effective use of extra energy.
How Is Grid Parity Used by the Power Ledger?
A P2P energy ecosystem has been developed by The Power Ledger to support renewable energy transactions. This is made feasible by using blockchain to record all the data pertaining to both the production and use of electricity. The Power Ledger platform houses the data related to these operations. The platform will have predetermined rates for both energy generation and consumption transactions.
This strategy shouldn’t be limited to the Power Ledger, as the development of energy microgrids became possible as more and more nations around the world are now experiencing the phenomena of “grid parity.” This basically means that we need to reach a point where the costs of electricity provided by alternative energy sources (such locally produced solar energy) and those imposed by centralised power suppliers are more or less equal.
In actuality, this means that the blockchain powered by Power Ledger will operate as both a platform and an interface for energy trade within microgrids. One such is its collaboration with Thai energy provider BCPG, which should allow building managers of various local institutions to exchange the energy produced by solar panels (up to 2MW was made accessible for trade) using a banking interface. The Power Ledger platform, which served as the system’s transaction layer, made it simpler to trade, bill, and monitor the tradable extra energy produced by the facilities involved in the initiative, with the goal of lowering their energy costs and improving energy efficiency.
How Does the Power Ledger Ecosystem Work?
Two distinct blockchains are operated by the Power Ledger platform, each serving a different purpose:
The Ethereum blockchain.
This blockchain performs as the public one and acts as the network’s outer layer. Its major goal is to support the Power Ledger (POWR) tokens, which can be purchased, sold, and traded on this globally accessible Ethereum-powered layer, technologically.
The EcoChain
The EcoChain is unmistakably the internal equivalent of the Ethereum blockchain, which is the Power Ledger’s surface layer. By collecting and maintaining POWR tokens for the network, one can gain access to it. The Power Ledger team created, created, and managed this private consortium blockchain, which includes the platform’s second token: the Sparkz token. These tokens are made to offer a direct connection.
connect to the Power Ledger interface, which links different electricity-generating facilities, including private houses and businesses. The EcoChain on this network may be easily tailored to the energy production conditions in a particular local location, unlike the Ethereum blockchain on this network, which essentially serves the same purpose everywhere. This entails adjusting the chain to comply with various local ordinances and the current supply levels in a region connected to a specific grid.
What Is POWR Token?
The interactions between its layers and two tokens are what drive the Power Ledger ecosystem. Smart contracts built on the Ethereum platform enable this. Through the use of devices known as smart metres, the platform’s transactive layer establishes contact with the electrical grid. These are electronic systems that track the amount of electricity used and transmit the data to energy producers so that they can generate invoices using the information. The infrastructure for both power supply and distribution must be kept up to date by the power generators. These producers are referred to as “application hosts,” along with any other organisation (such as property managers or merchants) using the Power Ledger programme.
A certain number of POWR tokens must be held in order to secure access to the network for both hosts and users. These utility tokens serve a variety of functions on the Power Ledger network and serve as its fuel.
Facilitating access in order to use the platform.
For access to the platform, application hosts are required to escrow POWR tokens. The ability to conduct transactions on the network will be withheld from the application host if it does not own an adequate number of tokens. To expand with an increase in transactions that comes with the growth of their user base, application hosts will eventually require more POWR tokens. The demand for POWR tokens will increase as more of them are escrowed. In consequence, the value of the POWR tokens will increase as more application hosts join the network.
They are used to provide loyalty rewards to the participants in the network
As part of the Green Energy Loyalty Rewards programme, all energy providers and consumers who buy green energy receive POWR tokens for using the Power Ledger platform. Fees for P2P transactions made on the site are used to pay for the programme.
They foster relationships between renewable energy charities and provide access to Asset Germination Events.
These activities involve crowd-funded assets that employ green energy and the Power Ledger blockchain. Batteries and solar and wind farms are examples of them.
POWR tokens serve as the bond backing on the Power ledger platform
. Smart Bond technology safeguards consumers. Smart Bonds use smart contract technology to perform the functions of automated contract bonds. They have a built-in coding that makes sure the parties to the contractual bond comply.
POWR tokens can be converted into Sparkz tokens,
They are then made redeemable using fiat currency utilised on energy trading exchanges or other platforms that are similar.
The Power Ledger cryptocurrency’s market valuation was around 42 million USD as of January 2019, down from its previous peak of 641 million USD in January 2018. There are currently 395,889,007 POWR tokens in use. The tokens can be traded on platforms for cryptocurrencies like Bittrex and Binance.
What Are Sparkz Tokens on the Power Ledger Network?
As electricity credits backed by local currency, Sparkz tokens serve as a means of payment for the services offered by the application hosts. One uses their usefulness POWR tokens as an assurance for the Sparkz tokens.
Fiat currencies that are accepted by the particular trading platform are used to buy and sell Sparkz tokens. Application hosts use Sparkz to introduce their users to the trading platform in the following ways:
People purchase Sparkz to spend their money.
The generated energy can then be exchanged for Sparkz tokens, which act as credits that users can use to buy and sell energy.
Sparkz tokens can be manufactured essentially indefinitely because they are made when needed, used, and then destroyed after being redeemed. Their pricing are tied to local energy prices in addition to the local fiat, which is expected to aid in maintaining a stable exchange rate. The connections between Sparkz and regional currencies are intended to increase the stability of the Power Ledger-based energy trading ecosystems. Power Ledger needs to enable easier pricing and more adaptable Sparkz token usage.
Power Ledger Products
The Power Ledger platform is used to run this solution, which consists of three primary items. These are Power Port, uGrid, and xGrid.
The primary offering on the Power Ledger platform is xGrid. It enables energy providers who produce extra energy to sell it to potential buyers. The platform’s blockchain mechanism is in charge of managing transaction settlements in a quick, transparent, and affordable manner while the trading is conducted on a regulated energy grid. With xGrid, energy producers may increase the return on their renewable energy investments while also providing users with the benefit of decreased electricity costs. Designed this way,
In the Power Ledger ecosystem, xGrid aims to gain the support of several important user groups, including power-grid-connected homes and businesses, solar-panel users who produce renewable energy, and electricity suppliers who want to provide their customers with a more affordable and environmentally friendly product.
uGrid is a different product from Power Ledger that, in this iteration, focuses on more reasonably priced real-time electricity metering, the gathering of big data, the administration of microgrids, and the processing of micro-transactions. With the aid of a regulated electrical master metre, power trading is carried out.
This permits increased openness in terms of business dealings and energy use. In light of this, uGrid is designed for customer communities linked by networked grids, such as malls, parks, apartment buildings, and similar establishments, that want to track their combined energy use in a highly accurate manner and manage their networks more effectively through the use of big data.
Power Port was created especially for electric vehicles and the charging stations that go with them. Power Port is intended to bring more affordable and secure metering, transparent settlement mechanisms, low-cost payment, the implementation of user IDs, and integration with current systems like Open Charge Point Protocol. Like other products in the Power Ledger line, Power Port is expected to accomplish these goals (OCPP).
The C6 and C6+ systems for the reporting and management of carbon credits and related certificates using blockchain technology are also included in the Power Ledger family of products.
Power Ledger Team and Project History
Dr. Jemma Green, David Martin, and John Bulich serve as the Power Ledger’s co-founders, and Dr. Bill Tai, a well-known venture capitalist, serves as the team’s principal advisor. Professionals with experience in engineering, finance, and blockchain technology make up the majority of the team.
The Power Ledger project, which was introduced in May 2016, has one of the best initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Australian company history (which took place in 2017). The network-based solution’s initial trial began in Australia in 2016 before expanding to New Zealand, Thailand, and other nations shortly after. The project intends to export its technologies to Europe in 2019.
Potential Competitors of Power Ledger
Several energy-focused projects that want to rely on blockchain and other decentralised technologies as their technical foundation must be competed with by the Power Ledger project. One of these initiatives is Restart Energy Democracy, a well-known solar cell manufacturer in Europe that intends to use its platform to enable electricity producers to sell their products directly to consumers. Another platform devoted to decentralised electricity trading with the aid of cutting-edge technologies is SunContract (SNC). The energy marketplace Electrify Asia (ELEC), which is geared for the Asian market and promises to enable direct purchases of energy from private suppliers, is the last option.
FAQs
How many Powerledger coins are there?
With a maximum supply of one billion POWR, there are currently a little under 463.5 million in use.
Who created Powerledger?
John Bulich and Jemma Green came up with Powerledger. Green received a PhD in disruption of the energy market from Curtin University in Western Australia. Bulich, who has a strong history in software development and blockchain, serves as the technical director.
Is Powerledger legit?
Major governments all over the world recognise Powerledger as a leading innovator in technology.
