Sustainability Magazine April 2019 | Page 45

household will participate directly in the established centralised power markets , they may do so indirectly through a third party or aggregator . This aggregator could be a utility , or a new entrant .
In the longer term , this process could be managed and optimised by AI . Certain regions are also already utilising blockchain technology to create and operate new local energy trading markets , on top of existing physical networks . For example , Brooklyn Microgrid is developing a community-powered microgrid where participants can engage in a sustainable energy network and choose their preferred energy sources , locally . And in the Netherlands , Powerpeers , launched by Vattenfall , is a marketplace where customers can decide who they receive their energy from , and who they supply with their self-generated energy .
This disruption is currently in its early stages , but the impact on the existing traditional and centralised electricity markets could be significant in the coming years .
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