Central American electricity retailer, Mercados Eléctricos, and Energy Web complete first stage of digital I-REC trading platform for verified renewables
Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador and Zug, Switzerland —23 June 2020 — Today, Mercados Eléctricos S.A de C.V (MERELEC), an electricity retailer operating across Mexico and Central America and headquartered in El Salvador, and Energy Web (EW) jointly announced the completion of the first stage in developing a digital renewable energy marketplace platform for Central American I-REC markets. The digital marketplace is designed to meet the needs of renewable energy buyers, including multinational corporations with 100% renewable energy targets across their global portfolios.
MERELEC and EW have built a pilot marketplace platform aligned with The International Renewable Energy Certificate (I-REC) Standard and onboarded about 20 renewable energy devices in El Salvador onto the pilot platform to trade I-RECs from verified renewables generation. Up to 200 devices in El Salvador with a total capacity of more than 1.3 GW are planned to be added to this pilot platform in the near future before onboarding more assets from across the region. Assets range from small-scale solar PV and micro-hydro systems to utility-scale renewable facilities such as large hydro, geothermal, and biogas/biomass.
MERELEC’s platform is being built using the Energy Web Decentralized Operating System (EW-DOS), including the EW Chain and EW Origin software development toolkit. (MERELEC is an Energy Web member and hosts a validator node on the EW Chain.)
EW Origin provides a portfolio of technical modules to enable companies like MERELEC to develop their own renewable energy marketplace platforms promoting industry standards like I-RECs. The newest EW Origin module enables digitalized exchanges for standardized energy attribute certificates (EACs) like I-RECs. Platforms built with EW Origin help streamline the full renewable energy procurement lifecycle — from device registration to certificate issuance, trading, and retirement — to reduce the cost and complexity of meeting the “proof of impact” needs of buyers across the globe. (Thailand-based PTT’s renewable energy marketplace for Southeast Asia similarly leverages EW Origin.)
Given its use of EW Origin, MERELEC’s pilot platform is prepared to synchronize with I-REC device registration and tracking systems to promote good industry practices. I-RECs are the recognized energy attribute certificate for voluntary renewable energy purchases across most of Latin America, where one I-REC equals one megawatt-hour of renewably generated electricity. In Central America, authorized issuance countries include Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama. Energy Web is supporting MERELEC with gathering the materials necessary to approve El Salvador as an authorized I-REC issuance country.
“We expect that this platform will ultimately help us grow our renewable energy business and help our customers obtain the most profitable and resilient economic prospects for their renewable systems by selling renewables directly to buyers in a lower-cost, more-efficient way,” said Carlos Chávez, Director of Projects & Investments at MERELEC. “The progress to-date shows great promise about the viability of using this platform to scale our business and expand renewables across Central America, starting in El Salvador.”
Now, MERELEC and Energy Web seek corporate renewable energy buyers to test and provide direct feedback to inform and improve the pilot platform. That way, corporate renewable energy buyers will be able to evaluate new renewable energy procurement solutions, ensure the pilot platform meets their proof-of-impact needs, and contribute to the development of publicly available technologies.
To help accelerate this pilot platform into a full commercial platform, MERELEC welcomes direct inquiries from market participants, end-users, and regulators to learn more about how to support this project.
“We are proud of the rapid progress we have already made to introduce this leapfrog digital solution to make it easier for any buyer to help accelerate the energy transition in Central America and help renewable energy project owners increase revenue expectations for new projects,” said Walter Kok, CEO of Energy Web. “We look forward to continuing our support with MERELEC to bring this pilot platform to the market and expand regional I-REC markets.”
About Mercados Eléctricos (MERELEC)
MERELEC is a Salvadoran company that leads in the wholesale trading of electrical energy within Central America and between Central America, Mexico and USA, through its subsidiary METCO. Its mission is to promote the growth of the Central American electrical sector and the trade of electrical energy between countries in the region through the trading of energy with quality, efficiency, and dynamism.
About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global, member-driven nonprofit accelerating a low-carbon, customer-centric electricity system by unleashing the potential of blockchain and decentralized technologies. EW focuses on technology integration and development, co-creating standards and architectures, speeding adoption, and building community.
In mid-2019, EW launched the Energy Web Chain, the world’s first enterprise-grade, open-source blockchain platform tailored to the sector’s regulatory, operational, and market needs. EW also fostered the world’s largest energy blockchain ecosystem, comprising utilities, grid operators, renewable energy developers, corporate energy buyers, and others.
Energy Web has become the industry’s leading energy blockchain partner and most-respected voice of authority on energy blockchain.
For more, please visit https://energyweb.org.
Contacts
Energy Web
Nicole Arnone, Inflection Point Agency for EW
+1.770.856.7185 | nicolearnone@inflectionpointagency.com
Mercados Eléctricos
Carlos Chávez, Director of Projects & Investments
+503.2511.6832 | cchavez@grupomerelec.com
