Blockchain renewable energy certification system launched in Uruguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguay’s grid operator UTE and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining have developed a renewable energy certification system.

The application is built on Energy Web’s decentralized operating system and aims to enable companies to obtain certificates detailing the origin and source of the renewable energy they purchase.

With this development, UTE and the Ministry are among the leaders in the development of blockchain application in the energy sector in Latin America and the first known to advance this use case.

The system is immediately available to large and medium-sized users in the energy sector, with the first certificates expected to be issued in March.

For others on non-residential rates as well as for self-generators of renewables, including the certification of renewable energy generated but not injected into the network, it will enabled from June 2022.

In the longer term, the plan is to extend the system to all residential customers.

The system’s development is driven by the strong growth of renewable energy in Uruguay over the last decade and the aim to implement an internationally recognized standard for its production.

It is expected to support the decarbonization of different economic sectors, such as transport and industry, and could be key to advancing the development of green hydrogen in Uruguay.

The Ministry was in charge of establishing the conditions for issuing the certificates, while UTE was responsible for developing the technology platform.

The system cross-references generation supply and demand on an hourly basis and the certificates are issued monthly. Once issued, they are automatically transferred to the acquirer of the renewable energy, be it a distributor or large customer.

“We understand that it is very valuable for a consumer to be able to certify that their energy or a certain fraction of it is renewable,” Industry, Energy and Mining Minister Omar Paganini said during a presentation of the plan in September 2021.

“The ability to certify that a certain product comes from energy uses that do not generate carbon emissions or greenhouse gases is one more value that the market is increasingly demanding.”

Renewable energy certification is seen as a key use case for blockchain technology, with the same principle now being introduced for green hydrogen, as well as for other tracking use cases, such as supply chains.