Customers of the German utility Enercity located in Hanover can use Bitcoin to pay their bills. For the company this is one step towards the digitalization of the energy sector.
Chairwoman of Enercity, Susanna Zapreva foresees a digital transformation for the entire economy, where future systems for transactions will be decentralized and independent from central institutions (Source: Energate). Enercity is one of the first energy companies that introduced the possibility to pay with the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin next to the regular currency. Since the 9th of September the company offers this service to its household customers. Customers will be informed about this new payment option via their regular energy bills.
All the transactions are secured in a decentralized manner, on the blockchain, and can be registered from anywhere via the internet. “The possibility to pay with Bitcoin is only one way into the digital future”, Zapreva adds. The exchange from Bitcoin into Euro is automated and the billing processes are managed by the service company Pey GmbH. Enercity also developed a Q&A website for the customers interested in this service. While there are no figures on the utilization of this new service as of now, Enercity wants to set a standard by embracing new decentralized options in a digitalized energy sector.
Recently, the Blockchain issue and its disruptive potentials in and for the power market caught the attention of many utilities and other organizations of the energy sector. Energy Brainpool also offers a seminar on “Blockchain in the energy sector”, which shed light on the underlying principles of the blockchain technology and how it may transform the energy sector.
