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AU$8 million project in City of Fremantle to explore blockchain-based distributed energy and water system

AU$8 million project in City of Fremantle to explore blockchain-based distributed energy and water system

Image credit: Power Ledger

The Australian federal government is providing AU$2.57
million in funding for a trial of blockchain-powered distributed energy and
water system in the city of Fremantle in Western Australia (WA) This is part of
the inaugural Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.

Last week, the Australian Government announced
52 successful projects under Round One of the Program. The government will award a total of AU$28.5 million to
these projects. All projects are being co-funded by local governments,
industry, research organisations and the private sector, and are delivering
almost $40 million in partner co-investment, or about $1.40 for every
Australian Government dollar invested.

This is the second biggest project on the list, after ‘Switching
on Darwin’
. Co-funding of AU$5.68 million will be provided by project
partners including Curtin University, Murdoch University, Curtin Institute of
Computation, LandCorp,
CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) /Data61,
CISCO and Power Ledger, adding up to
a total project value of AU$8.26 million. The project will also be supported by
the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Western Power, and the CRC for
Low Carbon Living.

Brad Pettitt, Mayor
of the City of Fremantle, said, “We are delighted to host this project in the
City of Fremantle. This collaboration between existing infrastructure,
renewable energy and innovative technology fits with our One Planet zero carbon
energy target and will help us to secure the ongoing sustainability of
essential services for communities that live here.”

The project will happen over two years and it will commence
within the next two months. A press
release
from Power Ledger explains that the project, which involves
academic, infrastructure and technology partners, will assess how cities can
use blockchain technology and data analytics to integrate distributed energy
and water systems.

A large solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, rooftop solar PV
panels, a precinct sized battery, an electric vehicle charge station and
precinct water treatment and capture systems will be connected using blockchain
technology and data analytics. The idea is to demonstrate the interconnected
infrastructure of future smart cities.

Curtin University will be the project lead, with responsibility
for technical and administrative project management duties. The University also
plans to develop a smart metering,
battery storage and blockchain trading system to allow energy and water
efficiencies between critical dispersed infrastructures that would otherwise require
physical co-location. Curtin University has also contributed the electric vehicle
and fast charger.

Murdoch University will provide research support on
alternative district water supply and storage schemes that will be used to
provide water, capacity and ancillary services to each other and the grid.

Martin Anda,
Academic Chair of Environmental Engineering, said, “This news is very exciting
as we now have the opportunity to develop an entirely new precinct scale urban
water system in Fremantle that will harmonise with the innovative Power Ledger
Platform. I am thrilled with the prospect of commencing research, modelling and
designing the novel water distribution infrastructure upgrades at Knutsford,
through rainwater capture and wastewater recycling, with the City of Fremantle
and the whole team.”

Curtin Institute for Computation and Data61 will provide the
data analytics required to generate insights from these projects, while CISCO will support
the project as part of its strategic partnership with Curtin University called
Innovation Central Perth. CSIRO and Data61 will assist in the delivery of this
project, by conducting megatrend analysis, risk analysis, statistical
forecasting and systems modelling.

Glenn Platt, the
Research Director of Grids & Energy Efficiency Systems, highlighted CSIRO’s
experience  in collaborating with
industry and government to build platforms, which he said will ensure that the
data generated by the project will be utilised by the community, project
partners and municipal government.

The Western Australian Government's land and development
agency, Landcorp, is taking part in the project to monitor success in order to
explore alternative water and energy systems that are connected to smart
technology. Landcorp owns the Knutsford site, where the integrated and
resilient energy and water systems

Dean Mudford, Chief
Operations Officer of Landcorp, said: “We are excited to be part of a shared
commitment to explore alternative water and energy systems which are
innovative, resource efficient and connected to smart technology.”

Power Ledger will provide the transactional layer for the
renewable assets, as well as the ownership model for the community owned
battery. Power Ledger has developed blockchain
energy applications, such as a P2P energy trading application that allows businesses,
such as utilities, to host trading on the Platform. Their technology enables
the sale of surplus renewable energy generated at residential and commercial
developments (including multi-unit/multi-tenanted) connected to existing
electricity distribution networks, or within micro-grids, in a transparent,
auditable and automated manner.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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