The Digital Grid, a venture from the University of Tokyo (Chiyoda -ku, Tokyo), starts a trial starting in February of a platform service that allows you to freely buy and sell electricity and environmental value on the Internet like stocks.On the screen of the Internet, sellers and buyers bid each other in the desired amount and price, and trade individually at the same price and quantity.This platform, which pursues freedom and simplicity with its own mechanism and IoT technology, leads to the excavation of renewable energy power supply and environmental value buried under the existing system, and supports the promotion of the calibration society?(Hiroki Iboshi)

In the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, distributed power supply increased rapidly in Japan. In particular, the solar power generation market has expanded to a bubble, which can be said to be a bubble by the “fixed -price purchase system (FIT)”, which buys surplus power at a fixed price for a long time. However, the reality of not being able to make use of them stands in front of you. For example, in Kyushu, where solar power is widespread, excessive supply can be burdensome, causing a power outage due to a burden on the transmission and distribution network, so it is often possible to suppress solar power output, mainly on weekends when electricity demand is declining. stay up. Then, even though there are so many fish, the fishery cooperatives do not buy it, so it's like feeding or throwing cats. To be clear, "wasteful". What is currently attracting attention is power trading using blockchain technology. P2P is originally one of the communication methods, and it is a mechanism in which individual terminals interact with each other without passing through the central server. By combining blockchain, which is mainly used in cryptocurrencies, etc. and is suitable for managing and operating information, linking the power that Mr. A and Mr. B "used" is linked to the power he used. Can do. Of course, the actual electricity is mixed with other electricity, and it cannot be selected and used from it, but in terms of money, "Mr. B bought A's electricity". Thanks to the Internet and distribution technology, the "direct" mechanism where fish purchased directly from fishermen reach their homes is already a matter of course, but the mechanism that can be used in the same way is becoming a reality in the power world. Speaking of such power P2P transactions using blockchain, the new electricity company, "Everyone," is famous. Using the concept of "power with a face", we use blockchain to provide power traceability. Specifically, the supply and demand of renewable power plants, which are contracted by electricity, and all of the companies that require electricity. It is proven that the paid electricity bill has been properly paid to the designated power plant, so it is suitable for consumers who want to cover electricity alone. In other words, is it like a "select shop" for people who have a high fashion consciousness of "I want to wear only clothes that stick to design and materials". On the other hand, "Digital Grid" is to provide a "place" where anyone can buy and sell electricity freely, such as flea market, so -called "flea market". However, unlike a general flea market that anyone can freely buy and sell clothes and accessories as long as there is a place, in the case of electricity, the seller requires a qualification of a retail business based on the Electrical Business Law. In other words, it is a "wholesale" world where only professionals can enter. Moreover, the transaction results must be recorded and reported in 24 hours and 30 minutes, 48 ​​frames a day, and 17,000 frames per year. There is no such thing as a small power plant or a general household generator with solar panels on the roof. "The service called" Digital Grid Platform ", which we thought about, adopted a" service provider system ". This is our company qualification as a retailer, and the customer is the business partner. Therefore, it is a mechanism that allows you to buy and sell electricity freely. If you bid the required amount and price, it will automatically match. The troublesome transaction report will be made automatically, so it will not be troublesome. Is a scheme that I thought of with the Resource Energy Agency for about two years. "

This is Yusuke Toyoda, President and CEO. Toyoda is a lab of Rikiya Abe, a leading professor at the University of Tokyo and a special professor of the University of Tokyo. After working at Goldman Sachs Securities, he participated in a digital grid since 2018. He was appointed president of the company in July 2019. "I met Abe when I was a third -year college student. When I went to the laboratory, I suddenly said," Toyota -kun, the world of electricity will look like the Internet. " I didn't know if I was saying it, but it seemed to be interesting. I thought it would be interesting if I could package electricity and buy and sell with pier and pier, so I studied the technical theory and methodology for four years. " As Toyota says, most people say, "I don't know what I'm saying." Even if it was announced at the conference and other sources, it was said that "What are you happy with electricity sold freely? It was the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 that the tide changed. As the shortage of power was shouted, it has increased the reality of connecting solar power, which has increased rapidly with peer two peers. And the tide of SDGs, "I want renewable energy" or the interest in the RE100 is also a tailwind. "What I want to do is that the trend of the times has finally caught up," says Toyota. "I want to increase the renewable energy." The general power generated by the general power, but most of the people who can sell it. Therefore, a major power company has bought it cheaply. However, if you can sell freely by yourself, it will be easier to make a living, and it will be easier to borrow construction costs. I want to give people who make renewable energy. " Garbage treatment plants that local governments have, and solar power plants for home and industrial use. Since buying and selling is one year, long -term and stable income can be expected. Certainly, it may be easier to make a prospect of operation, and it may be "let's create a power plant again". In particular, the solar power plant is expected to end the FIT, and it is likely to be a "removal FIT" footsteping that does not rely on subsidies.

In fact, President Toyoda, in his previous job, has a negative eye that many mega solar facilities have been "overrun" for speculation purposes. That's why the desire to help the power generation operator is stronger than others. "After 2032, there will be a one -time business power plant that will end the" graduation FIT ", which will end the purchase period. There are many advantages to this service and power buying side. For companies that want to increase the renewable energy usage ratio or simply lower the electricity bill in relation to the RE100 or business partners, the normal electricity will still be 30 % increase (in the case of hydroelectric power generation calculated by the company). The cost of renewable energy is a bottleneck, and there is a risk that the price of electricity wholesale markets such as JEPX will fluctuate. However, using this platform, you can buy the required amount at a satisfactory price for special qualifications and specialized knowledge. It will be a long -term contract for one year, but it is said that AI is less losen because of the demand. It is safe because it will automatically do the final ass match. And on the company's platform, you can trade not only electricity but also "environmental value". Environmental value is the value that does not discharge carbon dioxide, which is different from the value of electricity, and is sold in the form of "Green Power Certificate", "J-Credit", and "Non-fossil Style". There is. For companies that want to increase the ratio of renewable energy, besides actually buying reennel, it is common to buy these certificates. However, "The amount is not enough at all. Japanese companies need 800 billion kWh or 90 billion kWh a year, but only 1 billion kWh is available. And it takes too much time and effort to authenticate the certificate. I send a questionnaire to the generators, tell me the value of the power generation meter in solar power, and go to check if it is right ... Is doing this in this age. Then, digitize it and increase the amount. "This mechanism is a solar power generation equipment installed on its own developed IoT device, and it is consumed there. Measure the amount of power. The environmental value recorded in the blockchain can be certified by the "J-Credit" operated by the government.

"In other words, we want to solve these two, the digitization of renewable energy of" raw "and digitization of power certificates." Initially, it will be held mainly by the company's shareholders such as Hitachi and Tokyo Gas. At the start of full -scale service from April, new entry companies will also participate. In the future, not only the software side but also the hardware, specifically, the technology called "asynchronous link", "Even if electricity enters and exit from the transmission line is cut off, solar and storage batteries in the region. I want to create a community that is strong in disasters that can interact with each other. " However, first of all, it is important to establish a mechanism that allows everyone to buy and sell electricity freely, such as "Mercari". If each citizen becomes a player and challenge the difficult mission of realizing the carbon -sized society with a “one team”, it may be a chance that Japan, which is said to be delayed in the international community, can recover.

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