Tata Power DDL rolls out solar energy trading project

New Delhi: Tata Power Delhi Distribution and Australian tech firm Power Ledger on Wednesday announced the launch of the first live peer-to-peer solar energy trading project in Delhi.

Tata Power DDL and Power Ledger in collaboration with India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) have rolled out live peer-to-peer (P2P) solar energy trading, a first-of-its-kind pilot project in Delhi, a statement said. Tata Power Delhi Distribution (TPDDL), a joint venture between Tata Power and the government of NCT of Delhi, is a power distribution utility serving a population of 7 million in Delhi. This project, announced during India Smart Utility Week, is a major milestone in advancing India's ambitious renewable energy targets, while introducing the concept of energy trading to the world's second-biggest city, the statement said.

"Tata Power-DDL is focused towards building a 'Utility of the Future' and transforming the power distribution space through innovative green technologies, collaborations and initiatives," Tata Power-DDL CEO Ganesh Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan further noted that "with growing rooftop solar power being available, we believe that peer-to-peer solar power trading can offer customers the flexibility to buy green power from those who have solar power in excess of their own consumption." Under the project, an end total of about 150 sites that include TPDDL's locations as well as their actual customers with solar generation (prosumers) will be using the platform to sell their excess energy to other residential and commercial sites in a dynamic pricing environment, with benefit from P2P energy trades. Consumers can choose which seller (prosumer) to buy electricity from, with Power Ledger's blockchain audit trail of energy transactions providing near-time settlement and complete transparency throughout the entire process, it explained.