Power Update #14 — June 2019
It’s been a good month of solid work and developments for Electrify. These last 30 days brought us two new collaborative relationships in Singapore and abroad, and closer our goal of commercialisation of Synergy.
Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Research Project in Fukushima, Japan
We would like to share that we are participating in a research project with Aizu Laboratories Inc (“Aizu”) to investigate the use of peer-to-peer energy trading in Japan to a sustainable and smart energy future. The project will be conducted in conjunction with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, through its subsidiary, the Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute (FREA). The project will take place in FREA’s microgrid research facility which includes a mix of conventional and renewable generation sources, batteries, EVs and loads to simulate the conditions of an actual power grid.
Electrify will contribute our P2P energy trading platform, Synergy, to do the contracting and matching between generation and consumption. Aizu will deploy their proprietary smart plug to allow smart metering capabilities on the appliance level, allowing Synergy to conduct p2p trades down to individual appliances if desired. FREA will contribute to the use of their test microgrid facilities.
We will provide more details on the project as we get underway.
MOU with Ampotech
Recently announced, our MOU with Ampotech will see us able to deploy to more households, faster and more efficiently. Ampotech is one of Singapore’s rising IoT stars with their development of low-cost smart meters, capable of transmitting energy data over Wifi. We had started testing their Ampohub device during our Alpha test and the results and support we had received from Ampotech were very positive. The Ampohub will be the digital private meter that we will be deploying during the commercial Beta test. Pending the outcome of the Beta, we expect to be working closely with Ampotech co-develop another even more economical digital meter that will be suitable for mass deployment.
Synergy Beta
We had spent much of the last fortnight writing and modelling the case for a full commercial deployment of Synergy. This came at the request of the genco and its holding company. While this wasn’t unexpected, this analysis and planning came earlier than we had initially planned. This is a key component towards a fully-commercial deployment of Synergy and having to model such plans at this stage bodes well for the project. It demonstrates that the power companies and industry stakeholders are interested enough in what we’re developing to consider a commercial case.
During the last month, we have also been working hard to fine-tune our billing solution to match what the genco will require. This involved adapting and developing calculations for goods and services taxes (GST), esoteric grid system charges and many other tiny details. We will also need to develop a regulation-approved series of contracts and product marketing tools for consumers.
In all, this commercial Synergy Beta test is a major milestone for Electrify; we need to manage relationships with the gentailer and its principal, and the regulator. Needless to say, dealing with bureaucracy is a large part of our work day.
FASTRACK: Tech for Zero Cities
Organised by e27 and ENGIE Factory APAC, FASTRACK sparked conversations on modern cities and its impact on the environment. Our CEO, Martin Lim spoke on Radical Ideas for Creating a Green Energy Infrastructure. He explained, to a room full of investors and renewable advocates, how a platform like Synergy can be used to incentivise green energy infrastructure.
Electrify.Asia Site Revamp
Our Asia site has been updated for a sleek, new look. All previously shared links have been changed during the port over. For the latest links, please navigate from this refreshed site.
