P2P exchange UrbanChain secures GB electricity supply licence

Blockchain-based peer-to-peer exchange UrbanChain has been awarded an electricity supply licence for non-domestic premises in Britain by regulator Ofgem.

With the supply licence, long sought for, UrbanChain anticipates upping the array of products to customers while also bringing a higher level of control for the electricity generators.

In particular benefits should include full control of the peer-to-peer matching process and clearer transparency on data flows as well as enabling a new suite of products to ensure that generators have choice in where their generation goes.

For UrbanChain itself, the company regards the granting as a major milestone in its journey.

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“We started UrbanChain with a mission to alleviate fuel poverty and to fix a broken inefficient energy market model,” says Somayeh Taheri, UrbanChain a co-founder and CEO of UrbanChain.

“Renewable energy is not just for the well off and we are tackling this. Our goal is to connect as many generators as possible to their regional communities and local businesses. Having the supply licence will only strengthen our mission which is to make renewables mainstream.”

Manchester headquartered UrbanChain was founded in 2017 as a peer-to-peer energy exchange platform, using integrated smart contracts and machine learning to match generators of renewable energy and corporate and domestic consumers on a half hourly basis.

As such the company has focussed on creating local energy markets and energy communities, working with local government organisations and others across the private and domestic sectors.

Currently UrbanChain is managing more than 200GWh of renewable energy exchange with more than 3.3TWh in its pipeline.

An example of a current project is the delivery of a local energy market at the Rhug Estate in north Wales, an over 5,000ha organic farm with two wind turbines that power both local search and rescue and medical services and the farm’s restaurant and shop.

Another is the creation of a virtual power plant in partnership with energy services provider Equans and the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) in some council-owned building stock as part of an initiative towards a wider net zero neighbourhood in the West Midlands.

Last year UrbanChain was awarded Series A funding of £5.25 million ($6.7 million) in a round led by Eurazeo with the intention to expand internationally starting in Ireland.

The company reports currently gearing up for a Series B funding round push towards the end of 2024.

UrbanChain also has been funded by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and Innovate UK for an initiative to introduce electric vehicle charging stations and batteries to its renewable energy trading market.