Asset management outfit WPO will start making widespread use of blockchain technology in its business next year.
The distributed digital database that securely records peer-to-peer transactions will help the company monetise the large quantities of data it receives from the 5.2GW of renewable energy assets it manages across Europe, as well as enhance the efficiency of its operations, it told reNEWS.
WPO could start offering ‘blockchained’ green production certificates in late 2021 and is aiming to include other types of transactions and services such as warranties, power purchase agreements and insurance claims starting in 2021-22, WPO partner and managing director Duncan Levie said.
Blockchain green production certificates backed by 10 wind farms in France were successfully trialled in 2018-19. The company has already launched a blockchained services-for- data business model.
The technology makes products such as green certificates highly traceable and gives purchasers confidence in their origins, WPO added.
It will also bring more automation to commercial contracts and transactions such as PPAs, making them faster and more efficient, said Levie.
The company plans to offer services such as analyses, audits, advice and inspections in exchange for digital tokens.
Clients will receive blockchained certificates, called GoCerts, as a record of payment specific to the energy transition, and give WPO the right to use their assets’ data.
The model will enable the company to grow its database, which will in turn help it to improve services and strengthen its position in the asset management market.
WPO’s database is now growing at 30% per year and blockchain is a “good solution”, Levie said. “Blockchain is decentralised, verifiable, secure and transparent. These attributes lend it well to what we are trying to do.”
WPO last week launched a €5m initial coin offering with a public offer of its own Green Tokens to fund the new business model.
It had already raised more than €500,000 in private token sales prior to the public offering, and has secured 10-year recurring contractual commitments and purchase options for more than €3m of Green Tokens.
Investors will be able to trade the tokens or exchange them for services offered by WPO or any of the partners in its Green Token Network, receiving GoCert certificates in return.
The coin offer is the first in the energy sector to be approved by an independent market authority, France’s AMF. “The GreenToken project is overseen by an independent advisory committee, providing clear independent governance in addition to solid regulatory approval,” claimed Levie.