The Energy Web Foundation today announced the release of several major milestones for blockchain technology in the energy sector, including expansion of the affiliate network, release of the EW Origin Decentralized Application (DApp), launch of the EW Connect online community and a sneak peak at the D3A simulation environment for blockchain based transactive energy grids. The Energy Web testnet, beta release, also received several enhancements, including web assembly integration, encrypted smart contracts, decentralized Proof-of-Authority governance, and an improved light client.
“The energy blockchain space is evolving faster than ever and is poised to fundamentally change how the world’s electricity grids operate,” said Vice President of EWF Ewald Hesse, in a statement. “The latest advancements from Energy Web provide the foundational digital DNA and intelligence for the industry to make that leap.”
The organization said that Energy Web Foundation affiliates are able to get a head start developing applications on the open source EWF chain, and more than 30 companies are already participating on Tobalaba, its test network.
EWF Council Member, Jon Creyts said, in a statement, “As the EWF ecosystem begins to scale, we’ve built a critical mass of energy companies, blockchain developers, and other stakeholders who can together take definitive steps toward a more decentralized, democratized, decarbonized, and resilient electricity grid. It is incredibly exciting to see so many companies starting to build DApps on the Energy Web blockchain. Energy blockchain is at a powerful inflection [point] from hype and theory to practical proof of its potential.”
EW Connect creates a space for collaborating on the biggest challenges in energy sharing and management and gives affiliates to a pre-qualified network of blockchain developers, while EW Origin tracks the generation and ownership of renewably generated electricity, the company explained in a statement.
“EW Origin lowers costs and enhances transparency for certificate-of-origin transactions, improving market access for buyers and generators of all sizes, and enabling new decentralized applications based on Origin’s customizable, open-source reference implementation running on the Energy Web,” said EWF Council Member Ana Trbovich, in a statement.