Non-profit blockchain organization Energy Web and global communications company Vodafone Business have declared a partnership to provide energy assets secure digital IDs and track their use and connections within energy grids. They will join SCB (SIM-centric blockchain technology) with the IoT (Internet-of-Things technology. Vodafone’s IoT focus as Vodafone Business IoT now claims over 100 million connections, its global connectivity, and similar technology to mobile phone SIM cards will be utilized with the Energy Web Decentralized Operating System (EW-DOS).

Energy Web started its open-source enterprise blockchain platform for the energy sector in 2019, Energy Web Chain. This project began to encompass EW-DOS, which is a, as per Energy Web, “blockchain plus,” suite of decentralized solutions. Energy Web has also produced an energy blockchain ecosystem that includes utility companies, grid operators, and energy buyers, and developers. The organization’s focus is to stimulate “a low-carbon, customer-centric electricity system by unleashing the potential of blockchain and other decentralized technologies.”

Vodafone Business is Energy Web’s first telecoms associate. The project intends to enhance the combination of energy assets, like turbines and solar panels, utilizing IoT connectivity and blockchain, particularly SCB technology. This new SIM-centric technology will render energy assets secure digital IDs indicating energy grid stakeholders can recognize, track, validate, and manage energy equipment and assets within smart grids. As per the Energy Web announcement: “The ability to identify and validate distributed-generation assets in the smart grid is essential to maintain its stability.”

Vodafone already provides smart metering and smart grid solutions to the energy sector. Erik Brenneis, Vodafone Business IoT director, said in a statement, “As the number of decentralized, new-generation, low-carbon devices grows, so does the need for them to be securely connected regardless of their location.” Walter Kok, CEO of Energy Web, adds, “from our perspective, the energy sector can only evolve so fast and so far without taking into account IoT connectivity.” Kok said in a statement, “We can hook up through [the SIM], we don’t have to do anything, just download the software from Voda, and it’s connected to the chain and has its own identity; because that’s the beauty of it.”

Blockchain’s advantages in securing and enhancing supply chains and processes are again being used in the energy sector, one of the primary use cases for distributed ledger technology. Blockchain’s secure traceability and permissioned real-time accessibility present an untapped potential to a developing and increasingly digital energy industry. Blockchain is also being trialed in the energy sector to deliver P2P energy trading platforms to trace renewable energy generation and to promote renewable energy consumption.