Blockchain will facilitate Selo Procel process. Photo: Charlotte Venema, Unsplash.
GoLedger, a company specialized in Hyperledger blockchain solutions, won the competition from Eletrobrás to provide an orchestration platform and solution for the development of a permissioned network for Selo Procel. The contract will be worth R$ 2.29 million. The trading took place yesterday (23) and today the result was confirmed today.
Eletrobrás’ goals with the use of blockchain include easier data management, cost reduction, acceleration of the seal granting process and greater transparency and auditability. One of the challenges that we have today is collecting, exchanging data and managing them, since there are several parties participating in each process. Thus, blockchain is from the analysis to the granting of the seal, which shows the energy consumption of equipment and appliances.
But, this would be the first step of using blockchain in Selo Procel. That’s because once the seal adapts to the network, new features may emerge, said Eletrobras in the tender notice, which opened a month ago. This would include, for example, certification of new equipment and categories, equipment assessment and life cycle monitoring and data checking.
One of the examples, says the company, is the use of IoT “as sensors integrated into the system for equipment measurements”. As well as user awareness with demand-side responsive interfaces.”
The Procel – National Electric Energy Conservation Program (Procel) has existed since 1985 and the seal, since 1993. According to the program, in 2020, it contributed to savings of 22.02 billion kWh of electric energy. This also meant helping to avoid the emission of 1.36 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent into the atmosphere. Therefore, the equivalent of the emissions of 467 thousand vehicles in a year.
“Blockchain on Selo Procel has the benefit of not having an owner”
For Eletrobrás, the permissioned blockchain is the technology that best meets the needs of the seal concession, according to the public notice. Because it is distributed, it is highly fault tolerant and there is no “owner” of the system. And other participants must join the network, including the Electric Energy Research Center (Cepel).
Another advantage of this type of network, according to Eletrobrás, is that only organizations that have authorization can carry out operations on it. In this way, the barrier to entry is low and there is scalability. Furthermore, blockchain avoids recording conflicting information.
“For us, this contract is extremely important. We are gaining confidence in the market with large customers and showing that we are multi-sectoral. We are ecstatic,” GoLedger COO Otávio Soares told Blocknews. In addition, the Eletrobras bidding shows that “blockchain is not something extremely expensive”, added Soares and that it is therefore viable.
In recent months, the startup, which has been in operation for four years, won other bids. Recently, GoLedger closed with the Banco do Brasil to support the bank’s blockchain-focused laboratory, the BB lenses. The list also includes, for example, winning, last December, the Petrobras Connections for Innovation Program. In August 2021, it received the Distinguished Startup award from InovAtiva Brasil, the largest acceleration program in Latin America.
The GoFabric solution of network orchestration on the Hyperledger blockchain, has qualified as a Strategic Defense Product (PED). The defense Ministry also qualified the GoLedger as a Strategic Defense Company (EED). The company also has projects in the Military Police of São Paulo, in the Information and Communication Technology Company of Paraná (Celepar). Also, in the private sector, GoLedger is involved in different projects, including product tracking.