Dive Brief:
- Global tech powerhouse Siemens has invested in New York-based LO3 Energy, an energy company developing blockchain-enabled local energy marketplaces. The unspecified investment closed out LO3's series A funding round.
- It is not the first time the companies have worked together: two years ago, Siemens and LO3 began collaborating on projects beginning with the Brooklyn Microgrid.
- The peer-to-peer local energy marketplace completed its first sale based on blockchain technology in 2016 — a solar energy transaction between two neighbors.
Dive Insight:
Siemens investment in LO3 is really an acknowledgement of the future: that blockchain technology is about to change the way consumers buy and sell energy.
Ralf Christian, CEO of Siemens Energy Management, said the decision to fund LO3 "represents our acknowledgement of the future potential of blockchain technology as an enabler of local energy market places." He said Semens will also support LO3 with its experience in grid management, data analytics and complementary technology portfolio, "facilitating the integration of blockchain into state-of-the-art power grids.”
In 2015, Siemens and LO3 began collaborating on the Brooklyn Microgrid. In 2016, the grid performed its first energy sale using the blockchain-enabled platform. So far, the project has attracted dozens of community members participating in the local marketplace. LO3 and Siemens indicated they anticipate partnering on future projects across the globe.
“Over the years, our partnership with Siemens was integral to the success in the Brooklyn Microgrid, and will continue to be for years to come,” Lawrence Orsini, CEO of LO3 Energy, said in a statement.
LO3's Brooklyn Microgrid allows neighbors to buy and sell energy within their community, and is possible because New York allows consumers to choose their supplier. Consolidated Edison still delivers the energy. The Brooklyn Microgrid began as a "sandbox experiment" with three residents in the Park Slope neighborhood, but now has 60 participants.
