EDF Energy to pilot solar energy trading in Brixton

It aims to increase customers’ renewable energy use and enable them to buy and sell electricity to neighbours

Residents in Brixton in London will soon be able to trade solar energy with one another as part of new a pilot programme.

Dubbed ‘CommUNITY’, it is being run by EDF Energy with Repowering London and UCL’s Energy Institute, which aims to increase customers’ renewable energy use and enable them to buy and sell electricity to neighbours.

Residents at Elmore House, who choose to participate in the trial, will have access to electricity generated by a solar power system on the block’s roof that is stored in a battery and can be traded peer-to-peer using blockchain technology through an app.

Consumers cannot currently buy from or sell to other customers under current regulations – but industry experts believe this is likely to change in the near future.

Xavier Mamo, Director of Research & Development at EDF Energy said: “At EDF Energy, we are committed to making energy easier for our customers and unlocking the benefits that new technologies are bringing to the sector.

“By collaborating with our partners and using blockchain technology, this project in Brixton aims to show how small communities in dense urban areas could benefit from a low carbon and local energy system in a new and transformative way.”

The trial is expected to start in March and end in October 2019.

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