Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) study examines application possibilities, technical conditions and business models in the energy system

San Ramon, California – GE Power Digital has joined a study to evaluate the use of blockchain technology for energy industry applications. The study – launched by the German energy agency, Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – will investigate whether blockchain applications can be operated economically and reliably in energy industry use cases.

Blockchain is a way to store and exchange data via a simple, distributed, digital ledger. Using this technology, transactions are verified, validated and compiled into blocks in real-time and can then be made autonomous. Unlike alternative digital ledger technologies, blockchain requires no intermediaries. It is distributed thereby forming a single source of truth environment for any data and value transfer.

Because of these characteristics and the potential value they bring, blockchain’s applications continue to expand, including within the energy industry. The German energy industry is quickly turning into a development hub for blockchain technology due to the growth of distributed energy and the potential for microgrids. According to a 2016 dena survey of energy executives across Germany, more than 80% of respondents believed that blockchain will be a game changer or that further dissemination is likely.

Dena’s study, entitled “Blockchain in the integrated energy transition,” will explore the added value of blockchain compared to alternative systems and determine its technical and economic limits. GE and the other study participants have identified use cases – including asset and management and energy trading – and will conduct simulation studies around them. The results will be published by dena in 2019.

“At its foundation, blockchain offers the best conditions for the exchange, validation and documentation of valuable data in an integrated energy system,” says Andreas Kuhlmann, dena’s Chief Executive. “We have come to a point where it is necessary to verify whether the technology’s potential can be implemented in practice from a technical, economic and legal standpoint. The energy system is a critical infrastructure that must work securely and be protected by digitisation at the information and communication technology level. Blockchain technology can help with that – we want our study to show precisely how.”

“The world’s most powerful utility in 2025 may not exist today. At the very least, it does not operate today as it will in the future. Blockchain is rapidly evolving and has the potential to be an enabling technology for the future grid, and as an industry we should continue to explore its applications,” noted Steven Martin, chief digital officer for GE Power. “By participating in dena’s study, we will experiment to identify the exact qualitative and quantitative value add of blockchain in enabling a decentralized, efficient and intelligent grid.”

For updates on the study progress, visit www.dena.de/de/blockchain.

About GE

GE (NYSE:GE) drives the world forward by tackling its biggest challenges: Energy, health, transportation—the essentials of modern life. By combining world-class engineering with software and analytics, GE helps the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today it leads new paradigms in additive manufacturing, materials science, and data analytics. GE people are global, diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest integrity and passion to fulfill GE’s mission and deliver for our customers. www.ge.com

About GE Power

GE Power is a world energy leader providing equipment, solutions and services across the energy value chain from generation to consumption. Operating in more than 180 countries, our technology produces a third of the world’s electricity, equips 90 percent of power transmission utilities worldwide, and our software manages more than forty percent of the world’s energy. Through relentless innovation and continuous partnership with our customers, we are developing the energy technologies of the future and improving the power networks we depend on today. For more information please visit www.ge.com/power, and follow GE Power on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

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