PH energy firms ready to adopt blockchain technology

The blockchain business is expected to explode in value to $2 trillion in 2030 from $2.5 billion in 2017 as the technology’s momentum gathers pace in various industries and as it deepens roots in countries like the Philippines.

According to research firm IHS Markit, the outlook is consistent along with the different sectors where blockchain is applied, such as finance, supply and logistics, retail and e-commerce, power and energy, telecommunications, health care and even the government sector.

Tech giant IBM defines blockchain as a shared ledger where data cannot be modified, thus reduces the risk and cuts the costs of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.

While it was invented a decade ago particularly for use in bitcoin transactions, as IBM adds, virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network.

IHS Markit said in a report that in 2017, the business value of blockchain in the power and energy sector was estimated at about $20 million.

“With the projected increase in the number of blockchain projects that are launched and become commercially deployed, business value is projected to reach $158 billion by 2030,” the company said.

IHS Markit notes the global economies are run on energy, but the current energy system is costly and inefficient—and therein lies the potential for blockchain in this sector.

“Key problems with [the energy] market today are that it’s a centralized model. It locks in models of energy waste; there can be a lack of consumer choice, which can vary by country. Electricity networks are in need of expensive upgrades, and financial models are locked in,” the company added.

Blockchain is a fast-growing business even in the Philippines, where interest is shown by the Fintech Philippines Association and the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association.

In fact, a Blockchain Association of the Philippines as well as a Philippine Digital Asset Exchange have already been established.