UPDATE — Redefining roles in an evolving energy ecosystem: the unique features of actors within Restart Energy Democracy

7 min readMar 8, 2021

What do business, life, and complex systems have in common?

This is hardly a trick question. Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, the thought “they are all continuously evolving” was surely in the back of your head. As a matter of fact, now that you read the answer, you are neither amazed, not learning something new.

Evolution is the normal state of any living system, be it a sum of cells or a complex business environment.

The RED project is not an exception. Still in its youth and full of potential but with already solid traction and plenty of lessons learned, Restart Energy Democracy is evolving to better suit the needs of the stakeholders, towards a more scalable and faster growing energy ecosystem.

In a world facing the stringent reality of climate change, RED top management distilled the value proposition of the project and decided to focus on quantifying and creating a decentralized ecosystem for the digital representation of green energy certificates — the Green Tokens, Sustainability Certificates and Renewable Energy Origin Guarantee. The strategic intent behind this decision is to leave behind the complexities of the local regulations and to address a global issue, paving the way for unparalleled scalability, father growth and higher social and environmental impact.

RED’s bold new mission is to become the World’s first and biggest global green energy certificates market, while the vision remains unchanged — a greener, more democratic way of producing and consuming energy, protecting the environment and the future generations.

By choosing to focus on the global dimensions, RED will deliver on the promise to democratize energy supply and trading by offering any individual or entity the possibility to create a virtual energy business through the RED V-LEC franchise.

Simplifying and removing red tape is a recurring theme that applies not only to the scope and mission of RED, but also to the UX delivered through its intuitive, gamified mobile app. The promise that we deliver to our users: you can save energy costs, be environmentally friendly and also earn money, all through a few clicks on your mobile device.

A complete non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem

The new REO-G ERC-721 Non-Fungible Token

It represents an empowered version of the former GTK and sits at the center of an ecosystem driven by environmental accountability. However, it is not alone. Let’s discover the novelty behind RED’s tokens:

RED V-LEC NFT

Represents the right to run a local RED franchise, based on the contributed number of MWAT tokens. The local territory is encoded in the token (city, region, country). As any other token, it can be tradable (think of it like buying or selling a local business), can be withdrawn to a local ERC-721 wallet and has all the other characteristics of an ERC-721 token.

REO-G (Renewable Energy Origin Guarantee)

REO-G is a tokenized way to prove the origin of green energy in a 100% transparent way through the blockchain developed by RED. Each REO-G will contain information about the “Source of energy”, “Period of production” and “Quantity of produced energy”, ”Type of power plant”, ”End-use of energy”, ”REO-G Date of Issuance”, ”Issuer name”, as well as “Single Series” on the blockchain generated with the registration of the certificate, that can be publicly verified on the Ethereum network. Other personal information, that will only be available to the producer claiming the REO-G, will be encrypted as well in the token. The REO-G token can only be claimed by green energy producers, but can be traded on the RED Exchange and other third-party exchanges.

1REO-G will be the equivalent of 1MWh of green energy produced. The REO-G token will be burned when a Sustainability Certificate is issued for a user who requests it, based on the quantity of tokens he owns. The quantity of REO-G tokens burned will depend on the quantity of energy the certificate is issued for.

Brand NEW GTK (Carbon Offset Tracking) ERC-20 Token or Green Tokens

GTK (Green Token) is an ERC-20 token that measures the quantity of CO2 avoided from being sent into the atmosphere through actions that are friendly with the environment (green energy consumption, avoiding food waste, CO2 capturing from the atmosphere, e-mobility, etc.).

1GTK= 1kg of CO2 avoided from being sent into the atmosphere (or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases)

750 GTK= 1 REO-G

REO-G owners will be able to swap 1 REO-G for 750 GTK only once for every REO-G owned.

GTK tokens can also be claimed by KYC approved users who prove to have consumed green energy or to have charged their electric car at a power station. The amount of GTK received will be proportional to the avoided quantity of CO2.

GTK tokens will be burned when a user requests a Sustainability Certificate based on the quantity of GTK tokens he owns / the quantity of avoided CO2 the certificate is issued for.

RED experience for Producers: simplified flows, better opportunities

The green energy producers have always been the backbone of the RED ecosystem and one of its most important stakeholders. Under the new strategy, the producers benefit from simplified registration flows, while maintaining the classical benefits offered by RED:

P2P energy trading through the “Sleeved PPA” mechanism: Producers and Consumers who are in a contract of sale or purchase with the same energy supplier registered on the platform will have access to a P2P electricity market based on the “sleeved PPA” mechanism by which the supplier agrees to take energy from a producer and deliver it to a consumer for a “commission”. This concept involves the “synchronization” or simultaneous signing of two contracts, between supplier and producer and between supplier and consumer; the transactional data specific to the transaction being saved in the internal blockchain of the RED platform. This structure provides cost-cutting benefits for the Producers through far more transparent and efficient customer acquisition and management. This feature will be available in future stages of the RED Platform’s development process.
Minting REO-G: based on the historical production (no later than 12 months from its production), producers can request the REO-G mint — which certifies the production of energy from renewable sources and can be sold to consumers in order to transform them into Green Certificates. The claims from producers will be verified by third-party contributors: the RED Validators.

Consolidated benefits for the Consumers

Any energy system is ultimately dedicated to the needs of consumers. This customer-centric mantra of RED was a differentiation strategy from day one. Under the new strategy, customers retain all the original benefits, while benefiting from simplified flows, new features and more business opportunities:

Significant Price reductions — As a RED consumer not only you get to know and pick the sources of your energy, but you can also pay less for it.
Real-time, simplified energy cost control — RED Customers have at their disposal a digital platform where they can check any time the details of the supply contract, energy consumption, access bills and payments made, quickly make payments for due bills and, if necessary to discuss with the assigned account interlocutor. Additionally, if you want to display the real time consumption within the application, you can request the installation of a RED smart meter.
RED Pay — The unique payment collection platform for suppliers that allows consumers to pay scheduled energy bills in both FIAT and digital currencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, MWAT).
Blockchain Transparency — Consumers benefit from 100% transparency by recording the most important events from the interaction with them on Blockchain (issuing and paying invoices, consumption, notifications).
Precise Carbon Footprint reduction — As a RED consumer you can be sure that the energy you consume is produced through green technologies. This allows the customer to precisely calculate their carbon footprint.
Demand Response — Working together with Producers, RED Consumers will be able to benefit from the particularities of the consumption curve and real-time market conditions (Service available only with RED IoT Sensors and Gateway).
REO-G Trading — Consumers can purchase REO-G digital tokens directly from manufacturers that certify the origin of renewable energy on the Blockchain recordings.
GTK Trading — Consumers can trade GTK tokens on the RED Exchange or other third-party exchanges.
Minting GTK: based on historical consumption of green energy (no later than 12 months), users can request RED to mint GTK, which certifies the quantity of CO2 or other equivalent greenhouse gas avoided to be sent into the atmosphere thanks to their actions (green energy consumption, charging of an electric car).
Green Certificates — Wear your environmental accountability like a proud badge! With a digital Green Certificate you can prove on a public blockchain that as a customer, you are a sustainable company/individual that supports the production of renewable energy as well as the reduction of CO2 Your business partners, customers and suppliers will be delighted to work with a sustainable company and to check this information publicly at any time.

A new class of RED actors — the RED Validators

The new strategy introduces a new class of actors, creating even more opportunities.

A RED Validator is an entity with professional experience in the field of renewable energy that has the right to verify and validate REO-G and GTK requests from manufacturers and users.

To gain the exclusive status as RED Validator you have to be a franchise owner and to pass with at least 9/10 points a thorough exam on the topic of Renewable Energy. The validator can only operate as such in the region he/she has an operating franchise.

In order to become a Validator, you will not have to stake extra MWAT apart from what you have already staked as a franchise owner.

The RED Validator will gain continuous revenue in MWAT for each performed validation, becoming a key piece in the RED ecosystem and representing another form of business opportunity that our ecosystem produces.