WePower

Overview of WePower

  • WePower, a blockchain startup backed by Japan’s Marubeni, has unveiled a new solution to enable corporates to easily buy renewable energy in a typical e-commerce experience. Mojo Power, an Australian electricity retailer, is the first to use the white-labeled marketplace known as Elemental.
  • WEPOWER has already begun to show how it can help the city’s entrepreneur support organizations fulfill their broader civic mission of making startup resources and capital available on a more equitable basis to typically “underestimated” founders from Black and Latinx communities.
  • WePOWER is a vibrant voluntary women’s professional network in Energy and Power Sector in South Asia that supports women’s participation in energy projects and institutions and promotes normative change regarding women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.
  • WePOWER is certified and accredited by the following:
    (CEC) California Energy Commission, CSA International, (AWEA) American Wind Energy Association, (IEC) International Electrotechnical Commission, CE, and we are recognized by the Better Business Bureau as an Accredited Business.
  • WePower has delivered its blockchain-enabled Elemental technology to Mojo Power for the establishment of the Mojo Marketplace, an online shopping setup whereby businesses and industry can shop for locally sourced renewable energy retail contracts.
  • WEPOWER was founded in 2018 to address what the team describes as poorly designed systems harming communities of color, particularly black and Latinx populations, and limiting their potential to thrive.
  • WePower’s innovative concept is based on the idea of tokenization of energy, which in contrast to most crypto assets, is based on a physical commodity, bringing a alternative dimension to digital asset value.
  • WePOWER Strategic Partners, Women In Energy and Women Engineers Pakistan, organized Pakistan’s largest virtual job fair with a mission to help connect employers and job seekers with digital ease.
  • WePower connects energy buyers (end users and investors)
    directly with the green energy producers and creates an opportunity to
    purchase energy upfront at below market rates.
  • WePower received the consumption data from Elering aggregated on the zip code level in order to ensure anonymity of private individuals from a GDPR perspective.
  • Blockchain

    WePower network was founded in January of 2017.The WPR token launch and platform creation are their first major projects as a company, and they have already secured $3 million in funding during the pre-sale.They currently have 15-20 employees and a group of advisors that have expertise in fields such as blockchain, energy, AI, and more.The biographies for key team members are listed below:Nikolaj Martyniuk, Co-Founder & CEO – background in international renewable energy development ranging from plant construction to energy sales through independent energy suppliers.He is responsible for overall strategy and business development for WePower.He is also a founding partner of the Smart Energy Fund.Arturas Asakavicius, Co-Founder – background in regulation and fintech.He has led a team of lawyers responsible for all Fintech, blockchain, and cryptocurrency related business/regulation at the law firm Sorainen for the past 5 years.He is chairman of the Lithuanian Fintech Association and recognized as a Lithuanian Crowdfunding Patron by the EU Commission.Arturas is focused on investor relations and the legal aspects of WePower.Kaspar Kaarlep, CTO – previously the CTO of a large national DSO, and has worked on green energy integration from different angles for 7 years.He was responsible for the DSO strategic plan and their Smart Grid technology roadmap along with management of the IT architecture.Some of the advisors for WePower include Jon Matonis, Chairman of Globitex, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, David Allen Cohen, Chairman of Dcntral, a blockchain based cybersecurity company, Nimrod Lehavi, CEO of Simplex, and more.WePower is also supported by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania.

    Network

    A world-class cybersecurity expert who has counseled organizations such as the
    European Network for Cyber
    Security and the European Commission, Michael is responsible for WePower’s
    cybersecurity strategy, processes,
    requirements, and implementation.Over the past 12 years he has been heavily
    involved in the energy industry and
    cybersecurity, working closely with organisations such as the European Network for
    Cyber Security (ENCS) and European
    Commission.

    Regulation

    WePower has chosen to kickstart its project with a base in Europe.The region’s similar regulatory framework across the members of the European Union as well as its interconnected network produce the perfect environment to optimize WePower’s launch.A connected grid and compatible regulation are fundamental for the scalability of WePower’s approach.If the markets are not open to a seamless connection to the grid, peer-to-peer energy trading would not be able to be implemented beyond micro-grids.

    Support

    The first cohort saw an average increase of 3.5x in their monthly revenue following the completion of the program.They’ve also retained 100 percent of their team members and accessed a total of $400,000 in seed capital!Supporting accomplished Black and Latinx entrepreneurs from within our own community to thrive is at the heart of WEPOWER, and we can’t wait to see the amazing work that the cohort undertakes in 2021.

    Transactions

    WePower is a blockchain-based green energy trading platform that connects “energy suppliers, corporate buyers and energy producers for easy, direct green energy transactions.”

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    So what needs to change?

    One issue with PPAs is that they hold no liquidity – that is, they cannot be re-sold.They’re also typically very long – up to 10 years – and involve large amounts of money and electricity.That’s why we’ve created what we call the Smart Energy Contract.It’s based on blockchain technology and it allows two parties to contract in an automated way on a one-kilowatt-per-hour basis – so, instead of signing one big contract, a company can sign thousands of small contracts.That means the company gets flexibility – if it doesn’t use all the energy it’s contracted, those contracts can be sold.Also, the whole thing happens on a website, so the two parties don’t need to meet, and it also enables crowdfunding and, eventually, global trade.That means a person in Finland could potentially invest in an energy project in Australia.Once the energy plant begins generating energy, that investor can sell his stake.

    How advanced is the project?

    WePower was launched in January of 2017, and secured a 1,000 MW project pipeline in July 2017.From there, they launched an MVP in August, then signed a deal for grid integration and had 14 energy engineers join the project in September.Currently, the team is working towards a platform launch in March 2018 and a country-wide energy tokenization test in Estonia for April 2018.They are also working on connecting WePower with their first clients in Spain, hoping to do more testing of the platform in September before a full launch in Spain planned for November.After launching in Spain, the team is planning to launch their tokenized energy model in Portugal and Germany at the end of 2018.If everything is still on schedule at this point, they plan on focusing on regulation in January 2019 and virtual power plant structure in March 2019.From there, the goal will be to expand further and make an impact on as many energy markets as possible.Currently, there are 3 energy producers planning to use WePower and connect over 1000 MW of solar energy to the platform: Conquista Solar, Civitas Projects and Novocorex.WePower has blockchain related partnerships with Bancor, TokenLot, Bitcoin Suisse, AmaZix, and Kr Token.They also have technology partnerships with Catapult, Wings, Metasite, Blockchain Labs, and Finpass.

    Who are the top 10 Investment Companies?

    Investment is a very lucrative method for generating future income.However, it requires individuals…

    The CIO show: What happened to blockchain?

    2020.11.

    What does the company/project do?

    WePower is proposing a blockchain based green energy trading platform that directly connects producers to consumers.The most important mechanism of WePower’s platform is allowing producers to tokenize the clean energy they create.These tokens (different from WPR) will represent 1 kWh of energy to be produced in the future and are a contract between the producer and consumer.Through this tokenization of renewable energy, WePower aims to allow renewable energy producers to pre-sell their production on a global scale and obtain necessary capital to increase their profitability.This will tackle a huge issue in today’s clean energy markets, as the unique regulatory framework in Europe keeps competition high and does not provide a market for open connection to the energy grid.As a result, the investment ecosystem for global renewable energy will be simplified and open to more consumers.Investors will also benefit from better energy investment terms (lower costs & higher liquidity) as well as access to clean energy projects worldwide, making green energy a more appealing asset class.The WePower platform hopes to take advantage of the fact that the percentage of renewable energy in the world will go from 24% today towards 100% over time, accounting for most of the $11.5 trillion world energy use.It is unclear how long this will take, but WePower aims to speed up adoption of clean energy while growing its platform and connecting more consumers with producers worldwide.

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    And how is our last cohort doing?

    Seeing the incredible success and impact of our inaugural cohort has been rewarding and energized us to continue this work.The first cohort saw an average increase of 3.5x in their monthly revenue following the completion of the program.They’ve also retained 100 percent of their team members and accessed a total of $400,000 in seed capital! Supporting accomplished Black and Latinx entrepreneurs from within our own community to thrive is at the heart of WEPOWER, and we can’t wait to see the amazing work that the cohort undertakes in 2021.

    What are the tokens used for and how can token value appreciate?

    WePower has a 2 token system (WPR token and energy token worth of 1 kwh).With WPR token holder will be able to receive 0.9% of energy tokens produced by renewable plants.1 energy token equals to 1 kwh.Holders of the WPR token will receive 48 hours priority access to participate in auctions for purchasing this tokenized energy once renewable energy plants are connected to the platform.Each plant will set the minimum price per token, and both historical and current energy prices will be visible on the platform to ensure a fair auction.In addition, WPR token holders are entitled to no less than 0.9% of tokenized energy donated directly by the renewable energy providers.The token holders have the option to use this energy, sell it before its production, or sell it to the wholesale market when it is produced.The WPR token model is designed to provide intrinsic value to investors in the form of energy.As the platform grows and sees more clean energy producers sign up, WPR holders will be entitled to more energy over time, which should drive demand for WPR upwards.

    What is the organization aiming to accomplish?

    Over the course of a generation, our goals are that an increased % of Black & Latinx St.

    WHAT IS ELEVATE/ELEVAR?

    The Elevate/Elevar Accelerator is a 6-month entrepreneurship development program for Black & Latinx entrepreneurs.Through the Accelerator, we support founders with curriculum, connections, community, and access to capital through grants.We also support founders with interest-free loans in partnership with Kiva and a founder-focused investment fund.

    What is WEPOWER’s mission? What is one mission-aligned success you have achieved so far?

    WEPOWER’s mission is to activate community power to redesign systems—health, education, justice, and economic—to be just and equitable for all.The Tomorrow Builders Fellowship is one of WEPOWER’s mission-aligned success stories.What started as a systems design and leadership development program for 14 community members affected by the inequities of St.Louis’s early childhood education system has evolved into a robust, community-led movement that’s engaged over 1,000 St.Louisans.

    History of WePower

  • In 2019, WePOWER had 11 partners and in 2020 the Network grew to 24 partners. From Feb 2019-Dec 2020, WePOWER partners completed 837 gender activities/outputs including STEM awareness sessions, study tours, internships, hiring, technical trainings, female facilities build – total over 50 various activities that benefitted 14,797 female participants.
  • In 2020, several online events were conducted including webinars, panel discussion and a 6-days international boot camp on “Energy Modelling in Industry”; with over 300 participants from 30+ countries.