# Pool home batteries and electric cars for grid balancing

> The transmission system operators TenneT, Terna, Swissgrid and APG jointly run Equigy, a platform that lets aggregators offer the flexibility of electric cars, home batteries and solar installations on balancing markets. Built on Hyperledger Fabric, it anchors IoT readings from the end devices as tamper-evident proof that pledged flexibility was actually delivered. The four operators provide the technology and software without commercial interest, in order to lower market entry barriers for distributed energy resources.

**Sector:** Tertiary sector · **Industry:** Energy utilities · **Organisation:** TenneT · **Maturity level:** Production

Canonical URL: https://www.sapientblock.com/en/use-cases/tennet-hausbatterien-e-autos-netzstabilisierung-buendeln

## Documentation status

- **Project status:** Production
- **Evidence:** Evidence medium
- **Editorial review:** pending

## Description

The European transmission system operators TenneT, Terna, Swissgrid and APG operate a joint platform with Equigy that utilises the flexibility of electric cars, home storage systems and solar installations for grid stabilisation. As the share of renewable generation grows, the need for balancing power increases, but the available flexibility lies in millions of small systems that individually fall below the prequalification threshold. Through the joint register, the measurement values of these devices can be anchored so that they are recognised by the grid operator as reliable proof of the delivered performance.

Equigy was founded in 2020 by TenneT for the Netherlands and Germany, Terna for Italy and Swissgrid for Switzerland; in 2021 the Austrian APG joined, expanding the platform to five countries. Technically, the solution is based on Hyperledger Fabric with IBM as technology partner: aggregators report flexibility offers, and the IoT measurement values of the connected end devices are anchored in the register. This allows proof afterwards that a promised service was actually delivered, without a single grid operator acting as the sole data holder deciding on billing. The four grid operators are joint shareholders and provide technology and software explicitly without commercial interest, as they see the platform as an extension of their role as market enablers. The economic core lies in the fact that flexibility which previously had no market access due to its small individual size becomes tradable balancing power in aggregate. For aggregators, this creates for the first time a uniform cross-border access to the balancing energy markets of several transmission system operators.

## Benefits

- Marketing of the installed base of charging points, storage systems and solar installations without individual prequalification.
- Plannable source of revenue from systems primarily acquired for another purpose.
- Additional income from already existing devices such as electric cars or home storage systems.
- Contribution to grid stability without loss of comfort in everyday life.
- Flexibility from millions of small systems is used as balancing power for the first time.
- Proofs of delivery are tamper-proof and verifiable equally by all parties involved.
- Aggregators receive a uniform market access across five countries.
- The grid operators provide the platform without commercial interest, thereby lowering the entry barrier.
- Reliable data basis for billing of delivered system services.
- New fields of activity in aggregation and IoT connection of decentralised systems.

## Challenges

- Aggregators bear the risk of actually being able to deliver the promised flexibility from a distributed system portfolio.
- Connecting heterogeneous end devices from different manufacturers requires considerable integration effort.
- The anchored measurement values must be recognised by regulation as proof towards the grid operator.
- The economic benefit only arises with a large number of connected systems.
- System management and IT must ensure the quality and completeness of the fed-in measurement values permanently.

## Technology foundation

Equigy relies on Hyperledger Fabric as a permissioned register in which the IoT measurement values of the connected end devices are anchored; IBM is the technical partner. A distributed register is sensible here because several state-affiliated grid operators and a multitude of independent aggregators need the same proof of delivery without a single operator acting as data holder deciding on the billing of the others.

## Sources

- [About Equigy](https://equigy.com/about/)
- [Equigy: A Crowd Balancing Platform based on Blockchain Technology](https://electra.cigre.org/317-august-2021/global-connections/equigy-a-crowd-balancing-platform-based-on-blockchain-technology.html)
- [Blockchain energy platform launched by Swiss, Dutch, Italian national electricity grids](https://www.ledgerinsights.com/blockchain-energy-platform-electricity-grid-tennet-swissgrid-terna/)