Press Release

Electric Power Research Institute Joins Energy Web Strategic Collaboration, Will Test Blockchain Technology for Distributed Resource Integration

Palo Alto, Calif., and Zug, Switzerland — 28 October 2020 — Today the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) became the newest member of Energy Web (EW), opening the door for the organizations to work together on open blockchain platforms for integrating distributed resources. The strategic collaboration between the two organizations will include:

  • Drawing upon EPRI’s research and information on digitalization standards to further development of the Energy Web Decentralized Operating System (EW-DOS);
  • Building test applications that run on EW-DOS in an EPRI-hosted test environment; and
  • Conducting research on the benefits of open, public digital infrastructure — including blockchain technology — to support a register of distributed resources and for integration of these resources with energy markets.

“Blockchain and other decentralized digital technologies hold tremendous potential for the energy industry and we look forward to working with the experts at EW,” said Mark McGranaghan, EPRI Vice President for Innovation. “Our EW membership is a perfect complement to EPRI’s Utility Blockchain Interest Group, a utility forum for identifying promising applications for blockchain technology.”

EPRI has had a long-standing commitment to open-source projects, as evidenced by examples such as its OpenDSS, an open-source distribution system simulator first made available in 2008.

“For nearly 50 years, EPRI has been at the forefront of electricity grid innovation, both in the U.S. and internationally. They have been the electricity industry’s leading authority on technical research and development for decades,” explained Jesse Morris, CCO of Energy Web. “Like Energy Web, EPRI is a strong proponent of digitalization and open-source, which aligns perfectly with our vision. We look forward to working with them to bring the benefits of EW-DOS to more utilities around the world.”

EPRI’s broad collaborative research to advance the integration of distributed resources, support approaches for electrification of end use applications like transportation and develop the concept of advanced energy communities are aligned with Energy Web’s core mission to accelerate the transition to a customer-centric, low-carbon electricity system.

EPRI and Energy Web currently are scoping their first joint projects.