Several universities from the Basque Country, Navarra, and Catalonia participate in the project. The energy management system will use a blockchain whose name is still unknown.
A project seeks to use a blockchain to integrate universities from Spain, France, and Andorra into the same energy consumption management system, using a blockchain. This is EKATE, a program that received funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
This project is part of the Interreg V-A Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2014-2020), which the European Union created. The main objective is to integrate these border countries into a system with efficient and intelligent electrical energy management services. They plan to do it through the generation of renewable photovoltaic energy and shared self-consumption, as the project describes.
The website smartgridsinfo.es stated that higher-education institutions from regions such as the Atlantic Pyrenees, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Navarra, and the Eastern Pyrenees have already joined this project.
Among the institutions currently participating in EKATE, the Higher School of Advanced Industrial Technologies is the most prominent. There are also the University of the Basque Country and the International Center for Digital Engineering Methods. The list is completed by Enercluster Association, the company Tecsol and the Association for the development of renewable energies in the Derbi building and industry.
Neither the note nor the presentation of the project indicates the name of the blockchain on which the EKATE energy management system will work. They do not specify the process that this system will undergo. The text makes it clear that this project, launched in December 2019, will complete its life cycle at the end of May 2022.
The process will consist of a diagnosis, a phase of review, and implementation of two pilot experiences, as well as its subsequent evaluation and extension plans. The program aims to implement “innovative technologies in pilot facilities for shared self-consumption.” In the same way, the project seeks to develop new business models that will serve as a reference to new facilities for the future of the perimeter that the three nations share.
Blockchain in Energy Management
The energy sector, particularly in Spain, has been one of the most interested in exploring the possibilities of using blockchains in its processes. At the end of 2019, local media reported that the El Corte Inglés conglomerate would be in charge of certifying the origin of renewable energy through Blockchain Energy Tracking, in alliance with the group EDP (Energías de Portugal).
Also in December of last year, the Postal and Telegraph Society of Spain announced that it would use the ClimateTrade blockchain. It would allow them to compensate for the carbon footprint that they generate through their shipping and parcel services.
For its part, Siemens, in alliance with the Gnera group and Gas and Power, developed the e-ing3ni@ project. Through this platform, they would manage energy commercialization, connecting producers, individuals, and large plants, as well as traders, distributors, agents, and consumers.
By Alexander Salazar
