Energinet to test blockchain-based granular energy certificates
Image: Better Energy
Danish TSO Energinet is partnering with Google, Better Energy and Flexidao to test hourly granular energy certificates for green energy.
The aim of the test, which is being carried out on Google’s data centre energy consumption in Denmark, is to show how the new certificates can be exchanged in practice and can document green choices in the market in the purchase and sale of electricity close to real time.
While the opportunity already exists with guarantees of origin, the well-established certification system documenting energy production and consumption per MWh, the granular certificate approach should enable comparison on an hour by hour basis, rather than averaged over a longer period.
The test is being implemented on Energinet’s Energy Track & Trace platform with meter data on production and consumption from its DataHub centralised smart meter data repository.
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“Energy Track & Trace can provide reliable proof of where and when the power was produced, and has the potential to change how the production and consumption of power is measured, tracked and documented,” explains Energinet DataHub Director Martin Lervad Lundø.
Pointing to the value of testing Energy Track & Trace in a real world scenario, he adds: “The goal is primarily on two legs. Firstly, we want to activate flexible consumption so that it is moved to times with a lot of renewable energy. Secondly, we want to create opportunities for new business models in the electricity market and potentially a changed approach to investments and development plans for renewable energy and energy storage.
“Through this, we want to create an opportunity for those consumers whose needs are not only covered by the existing guarantees of origin,”
Google has the ambition to utilise 24/7 carbon-free energy globally by 2030 – the proof of which is only possible with granular certificates that can monitor in line with the changing levels of renewable generation on a similar scale.
Google is supplied with renewable energy by Better Energy and its consumption is monitored by Flexidao, which in turn connects to Energinet’s Energy Track & Trace to match granular certificates with the hourly consumption.
The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, which is implemented in Danish legislation with effect from May 2025, enables energy trading to be documented in the future with these granular guarantees of origin.
