ElaadNL is a technology firm based in the Netherlands and has recently developed a proof of concept for a smart power grid for electric vehicles using the internet of things focused on IOTA Tangle technology. Bit of a mouth full, I know.

The announcement came yesterday which and says that the proof of concept shows the ability of smart grids to not only consume power but also generate it and autonomously redistribute it throughout the community. The initiative was based on IOTA’s Tangle technology purportedly lets the charging devices autonomously make the decision for whether there is a need to assist the balance grid load.

On top of this, the charging stations can all earn IOTA tokens by charging electric vehicles at a lower speed or at an off-peak time. The announcement goes on to say, “the grid in this PoC will connect all devices to a particular area of the grid, along with the transformer supplying energy. If one or more devices lowers its energy usage, they receive a few tokens of the IOTA cryptocurrency.” A distributed ledger technology expert at ElaadNL, Harm van den Brink said, “This proof of concept shows a possible future electricity system, where energy is shared amongst neighbours and decentralized islands are capable of balancing itself. We are using our electricity grid in total different way than we did 50 years ago, we went from only consuming to also producing energy.”

The Dutch technology firm started up in 2009 by a group of grid operators with an aim to develop electric vehicle infrastructure and provide smart charging to electric vehicles. Since the company was established, the firm has reportedly installed around three thousand charging points within the Netherlands all open to the public.

A few weeks ago, the state-owned energy company Energinet expanded its partnership with distributed ledger network IOTA to investigate the use of its technology in new areas. IOTA’s product offering is specifically prepared for the internet of things. In addition, Energinet is looking to create new solutions “based on IoT for emerging phenomena, such as green energy and electric vehicles.”

Back in December, the Spain based ACCIONA Energia, which is a renewable energy company, announced its intention to deploy blockchain to track electricity generation. ACCIONA and the software startup FlexiDAO has been jointly working on the development of a commercial demonstrator that traces the renewable electricity generation supply chain.

It seems that there is a lot going on in Europe right now and not just in terms of crypto and blockchain…