Power Ledger: Changing the Global Energy Industry

There is something serendipitous about Co-Founder and Chairman Dr. Jemma Green’s journey towards founding Power Ledger. Power Ledger is a blockchain-based fintech clean energy platform backed by advisors including world-renowned venture capitalist Dr. Bill Tai. It recently won Sir Richard Branson’s 2018 Extreme Tech Challenge.

The former JP Morgan investor banker spotted a problem in the traditional carbon-intensive centralized energy system. An obsession with solving problems, led to the creation of Power Ledger, the brain-child of Green and her co-founders Dave Martin and John Bulich. “I believe our technology can help the energy transition and create an energy market that is reliable, green and beneficial to consumers and businesses”, explains Green. It’s a good thing they did.

The core purpose of the platform is Democratization of Power. The blockchain-powered energy trading platform allows people who can’t afford solar panels to have access to cleaner, cheaper and sustainable energy, resulting in electricity that is affordable for everyone and most importantly also to those who are most vulnerable. “The team and I share a belief that empowering individuals and communities to control the way in which they buy and sell their electricity will underpin the development of a power system that is resilient, affordable, green and owned by the people of the world”, explains Green. Power Ledger is dedicated towards the growth of the renewables market. Their goals are compatible with the agenda of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Perth based company has accomplished significant milestones in a short period of time. Despite the hardships she faced, Green finds the experience more satisfying compared to working for a larger corporation, and it’s been satisfying to watch her vision transform into something tangible. Green also the founder of the Global Blockchain Business Council, Chair of Climate-KIC Australia, and a research fellow at Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute traces her journey back to her time in JP Morgan. She recalls looking around the office and not seeing any recycling facilities. This drove her to spearhead a disruptive and divisive trash recycling project. The project exceeded its recycling and cost-saving objectives but sparked office bullying and a social media ‘bring the bins back’ campaign. Green describes this time in her life as a motivating event that helped her learn about managing responsibilities, organization and building rapport with people in a better way. “Sometimes failure has nothing to do with you, it's just life”, cheers Green. Following her experience at JP Morgan, Green embarked on a 12-month hiking sabbatical during which she started to formulate an idea of developing an eco-village. Wanting to bring change in the renewables industry, she decided to set up a new company to achieve determined goals. Fast forward to 2019: Power Ledger’s initial focus was on P2P energy trading, but the company in the past 12 months have added new products for carbon credits and electric vehicles. The company is also launching a new product called Asset Germination Event, which will enable everyday people to invest in and co-own energy assets which the company touts to be the world-first regulated crypto energy offering.