Denmark’s Energinet signs MOU with distributed ledger network IOTA

Denmark’s state-owned energy company Energinet has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the IOTA Foundation to trial the latter’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the internet-of-things (IoT) and energy market domains.

The Danish electricity and gas grid is one of the most green systems in the world with 40.5% wind and solar power in the electricity system and 9% biogas in the gas system as of December 2018. Energinet aims to accelerate the transition to green energy and boost the operation efficiency of the electricity and gas grids.

Energinet has already been working with the IOTA Foundation on a Data Marketplace initiative since November 2017. In a bid to accelerate the green energy transition, it now seeks to explore the potential of IoT devices integrated with the electricity markets with the IOTA Tangle, an open-source, permissionless DLT.

“As part of our journey to a digitized, green energy system, we know that we have to bridge the gap between the fast developments in IoT technology, being implemented on both household and industry level, and the centralized systems of the European energy system,” André Bryde Alnor, Market Developer in Energinet.

IOTA said that Tangle is being specifically built to “power the future of the IoT, with feeless micro-transactions and data integrity for connected devices and machines.”

Under the MOU, Energinet and IOTA look into the potential of IOTA in creating new products and services in the energy system centered on using IoT devices.

“This collaboration will include services applicable to Energy and adjacent areas such as smart cities, smart buildings and mobility. This will be done through joint Proofs of Concepts (PoCs) and participation in collaborative IOTA initiatives,” IOTA said in an online post.