Digital Currency Forum Electricity Trading Subcommittee (Subgroup B) Collaborative Demonstration to Promote Decarbonization of Small and Medium Enterprises

- Use case verification for the development of various new services utilizing the characteristics of digital currency and electricity transaction data that will be the fusion of DX and GX -

DeCurret DCP Inc. (HQ: Chiyoda-ward, Tokyo Japan, President & CEO: Kazuhiro Tokita, Hereinafter DeCurret DCP) announced today that Subgroup B of the Electricity Trading Subcommittee (group organizer: Enaris Co., Ltd.; hereinafter "Enaris") conducted a demonstration project to utilize electricity trading results in green finance at the Digital Currency Forum. We are pleased to inform you that the following is a summary of the results of the survey. This year, we used virtual data to acquire, score, and visualize information on electricity transactions and electricity purchasers, and verified use cases that make the most of this information.

The Digital Currency Forum, for which DeCurret DCP serves as the secretariat, is an initiative to study the practicality of Digital Currencies in Japan with the participation of more than 70 companies, banks, local governments, and organizations in a wide range of fields, including leading Japanese banks, retail, transportation, and information and communications, as well as experts and observers from related ministries and central banks.

Subgroup B of the Electricity Transactions Subcommittee promotes the integration of DX (Digital Transformation) and GX (Green Transformation) in the energy sector and aims to provide actual services to support carbon neutrality for small and medium enterprises. We will contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality in Japanese society.

20220331_ElectricityTradingSubcommitteeBCollaborativeDemonstration.pdf

(Reference materials)

1.Purpose and Background of the Demonstration
Many major companies are working on Science Based Targets (SBT) to set targets for the next 5 to 15 years, with the aim of reducing emissions by 2.5% or more each year, and they are also placing increasing importance on not only their own emissions but also those of their business partners, including upstream and downstream companies involved in their business activities (indirect emissions). The number of companies that are currently in the process of even for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), GHG reduction targets and efforts to reduce GHG emissions have become an issue that cannot be ignored.

On the other hand, only 10.8% of small and medium-sized companies have implemented carbon neutral initiatives, and the reasons include "high cost of compliance" in terms of funding. In order to promote carbon neutral initiatives among SMEs and realize the decarbonization of society, services that support the resolution of these issues are needed.

2.Demonstration Overview
In this year's demonstration project, we used the electricity trading platform developed by Enaris to verify support in terms of information and resources, as well as financial support. Since virtual data was used, virtual values were also used for the evaluation.

[Details of implementation]

1. SMEs track renewable energy purchases at 30-minute values, assuming a direct renewable energy procurement approach (Corporate PPA)
2. In addition to actual electricity transaction data, information on the power source type, power generation region, and power plant of the purchaser is also acquired.
3. Scoring based on actual electricity transaction data and information on suppliers to visualize environmental impact, sustainability, additionality, and regional characteristics
4. Finance service providers will examine the feasibility of providing finance services, including loans, based on SMEs' track record of purchasing renewable energy and their evaluation of their purchasers.
5. Products are also given carbon neutral information such as renewable energy usage rates, etc.

[Companies Participating in the Cooperative Demonstration]
Enaris Co., Ltd. (Executive Secretary), Daido Life Insurance Company, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, DeCurret DCP Inc. (Secretariat)

3.Demonstration Results and Future
The main reasons for the lack of progress in carbon neutral initiatives among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are "lack of clarity and lack of information" in terms of information and resources, and "high costs" in terms of funding. We have confirmed the possibility of contributing to the promotion of the project. We will continue to verify the use of various data from this initiative for carbon neutrality efforts throughout the supply chain.

In addition, Subgroup B of the Electricity Trading Subcommittee believes that the characteristics of digital currencies can be used to develop a variety of new services in electricity trading and financing services, and will continue to deepen its discussions.