Russian power grid company tests blockchain-based electricity payment system

According to reports, Russia's State Grid Corporation Rosseti is testing an electric fee payment system based on Waves' distributed ledger. The pilot project involved 400 households in two Russian administrative regions. The system will connect to meter data in houses and apartments, store it, and distribute consumer payments between power companies and grid operators.

Russia's State Grid Corporation Rosseti is testing an electric fee payment system based on Waves' distributed ledger.

Waves Enterprise, the enterprise blockchain unit of Russian DLT startup Waves, stated in a blog that the pilot project involved 400 households in two Russian administrative regions.

In the next phase (expected to start in early 2020), the pilot will be extended to the entire region of Kaliningrad and Sverdlovsk regions, with a total population of approximately 5.3 million people. Waves Enterprise says it will expand the system throughout Russia.

The announcement states that the system will connect to meter data in houses and apartments, store it, and distribute consumer payments between power companies and grid operators. The goal of the system is to make the calculation of payments more transparent and reduce the arrears of electricity used by households. In 2019, Russia's electricity debt has exceeded $ 12.5 million.

The announcement said families will be able to see how much power they are using through an app and choose more appropriate tariffs, such as choosing to offer cheaper rates at night.

Sergei Semerikov, a consultant to Rosseti's chairman, said the key factor in choosing Waves Enterprise was that the company was a Russian company.

"We believe that the system should be developed on a private blockchain and platform developed in our country to meet our needs for data protection and encryption." Russia's largest private bank Alfa Bank also participated in the pilot .

Rosseti previously announced another local blockchain pilot project in cooperation with Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Russian oil and gas giant, and Digital Horizon, a venture fund.