eChain: a Blockchain/AI-based energy trading platform to disrupt energy market

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£861,985

March 31, 2019

March 31, 2020

"UrbanChain aims to develop world-leading products and services by using blockchain/AI technologies to integrate services in utility sectors, such as energy, transportation and health. We aim to transform these markets, democratise their structure, and optimise and integrate services to reduce the costs for end users. We will initially focus on the energy sector where there are controversial market failures such as energy poverty, and non-competitive renewable energy market.

In 2015, 11% of English households were not able to keep their homes adequately warm (BEIS 2018), and the debts of the households to energy companies has reached £1billion (e-Ofgem 2017). In addition, treating the health impacts of cold homes is costing the NHS an estimated £1.36 billion each year (Age UK 2016). Furthermore, despite small-scale generators contribute to 25% of energy production, they only have access to 5% of consumers. There is now a business need to significantly reduce energy costs for end users and bring renewable energy generators into the mainstream market.

Our innovative platform solves the above problems as it directly links energy consumers to the renewable energy generators, and automatically switches the consumer's daily energy consumption to the best tariffs available within 10 minutes. The other innovative features of our platform are that it automates billing in real time and optimises demand and supply management with our integrated AI algorithms. Furthermore, our platform provides a competitive energy market for renewable energy generators to directly sell their energy to consumers. We will enable renewable energy generators to come to the mainstream market and provide energy as a service to end users.

The Innovate UK follow up fund will be used to conduct a premarket trail followed by commercialisation of our technology in the second phase. We will offer our product directly to end users, including households and SMEs, by the end of this project. Furthermore, we are willing to provide licenses to local authorities and social housing site managers to benefit from some features of our product. Private property managers will also be able to subscribe to our platform to trade energy and manage their energy trading at their own sites.

During the project, we will constantly publish our findings suitable for various audiences, and will inform Ofgem and other government-related bodies such as BEIS and Energy System Catapult about our activities. Our ultimate aim from this project is to increase the UK's productivity by eliminating the middlemen."