Blockchain enables real-time matching between prosumers and consumers, enabling instant transactions.
The pilot service will begin in December and the demonstration area will gradually expand.

Now you can produce your own electricity and sell the excess to your neighbors.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it has established a 'blockchain-based neighbor-to-neighbor electricity trading and electric vehicle charging service' with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).

Electricity trading is an innovative transaction method in which prosumers who produce electricity using solar power and other methods sell their remaining electricity to their neighbors through progressive tariffs through the mediation of KEPCO.

Since last year, the government has been working to expand electricity trading between neighbors by establishing standards for neighbor-to-neighbor electricity trading and promoting demonstration projects.

However, currently, when a prosumer applies to KEPCO for electricity trading between neighbors after obtaining prior consent from the consumer, KEPCO reviews the feasibility and benefits of the transaction*, and only when the prosumer and consumer finally agree, can a transaction between neighbors be made through an agreement (prosumer, consumer, KEPCO, for one year), and the transaction cost is settled** as KEPCO's electricity bill.

This has led to criticism that quick matching between prosumers and consumers is difficult, and that real-time transactions are lacking due to settlement through simple monthly electricity bill offsets.

The newly established "Blockchain-Based Neighborhood Power Trading and Electric Vehicle Charging Service" matches optimal prosumers and consumers in real time through a blockchain-based power trading platform, enabling immediate transactions using "Energy Points."

Owned ‘Energy Points can be used not only to pay electricity bills, but also to receive cash refunds or as a means of payment at electric vehicle charging stations.

Through blockchain, where prosumers, consumers, KEPCO, and electric vehicle charging stations all participate, electricity transactions, electric vehicle charging processes, and "Energy Point" transaction history are managed transparently and efficiently.

This pilot service, which will be operated starting in December of this year in nine buildings within KEPCO's Human Resources Development Center and two apartment complexes in Seoul, plans to gradually expand the demonstration area based on relevance.

Choi Young-hae, Director General of Internet Convergence Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized, “This pilot project is a good example that highlights the various advantages of blockchain, such as decentralization and efficiency,” and added, “I hope that blockchain-based neighbor-to-neighbor electricity trading services will spread, making electricity trading easier and alleviating the burden of electricity bills for the public.”