EDF Energy has confirmed plans to trial peer-to-peer energy trading at a social housing estate in south London.
Project Community will enable residents of Elsmore House in Brixton to use, store and trade electricity generated by solar panels on the roof of the building.
The aim of the scheme is to increase their consumption of low-carbon power whilst reducing their overall energy bills.
Participants will manage their energy usage through a platform underpinned by blockchain technology and accessible through an app.
Xavier Mamo, director of research and development at EDF Energy, said: “By collaborating with our partners and using blockchain technology, this project in Brixton aims to show how small communities in dense urban areas could benefit from a low-carbon and local energy system in a new and transformative way.”
EDF is conducting the trial in partnership with Repowering London and University College London’s Energy Institute. The consortium has been granted an exemption from the current rules preventing trading between customers as part of Ofgem’s ‘regulatory sandbox’ programme.
Repowering London technical director Felix Wight said: “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to own a stake in and benefit from new energy technologies, and this project will create new ways to do just that.”
The trial is expected to run between March and October of this year.