Update (Jan. 22, 08:00 am UTC): This article has been updated to include interview statements from Algorand Foundation chief marketing officer Marc Vanlerberghe.
Enel Group, an Italian green energy company, partnered with crypto wallet provider Conio to allow fractional ownership of solar panels through tokenization on the Algorand blockchain.
On Jan. 21, Algorand Foundation chief marketing officer Marc Vanlerberghe announced a partnership between Conio and Enel Group that will launch a solar-panel tokenization product in Italy.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Vanlerberghe said the product will go live with an initial group of clients on Jan. 24.
The tokenized product will allow Italians to own a portion of Enel’s solar farms and use the generated power to offset the electricity usage of residential properties.
Source: Marc Vanlerberghe
Vanlerberghe told Cointelegraph that Algorand (ALGO) was selected as the blockchain of choice due to its track record of no downtime, support for regulated EUR tokens and strong sustainability credentials as a carbon-neutral blockchain.
Offsetting residential energy utilization through the tokenization of commercial solar grids
Enel will manage all the solar panels on behalf of the fractional owners and adjust the actual energy production to defray their electricity bills. Algorand Foundation CEO Staci Warden noted that the ability to offset electricity usage through the tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) “is not tied to where you live.”
Source: Algorand Foundation
Warden explained the real-world use case of the product:
“You can live in a high-rise and offset with partial ownership of a solar panel in a field someplace else. So cool! There is just no end to the power of tokenized markets.”
Vanlerberghe told Cointelegraph that Italians living in apartment buildings cannot install solar panels personally. “But now, these panels will be tokenized, which means everyone can ‘have’ and benefit from solar panels, both financially and from an environmental perspective of offsetting carbon emissions,” he said.
Check out this Cointelegraph beginners’ guide to learn more about the Algorand blockchain network.
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Other projects using Algorand technology include Wholechain, which provides end-to-end supply chain traceability; Finboot, offering ESG data management solutions; URECA, a climate investing platform democratizing access to carbon credits; and 123Carbon, specializing in carbon insetting through transparent environmental attribute certificates.
Tokenization of Emirati assets
Amid the ongoing blockchain revolution, United Arab Emirates-based property development group Damac Group has signed a $1 billion agreement with Mantra, a blockchain built for tokenized RWAs, to enable token-based finance.
The partnership will allow Damac to leverage Mantra’s RWA-focused blockchain to tokenize its diverse portfolio, which includes real estate, hotels, resorts, manufacturing, capital markets and fashion. The multibillion-dollar investment conglomerate’s partnership with Mantra will further the blockchain’s goal to become “the preferred ledger of record” for RWAs.
According to a CNBC report, US President Donald Trump recently announced that Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, founder of Damac, has pledged at least $20 billion in foreign investment to build new data centers across the United States.
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