Blockchain: a catalyst for change

Diana Martin Romero, Blockchain Manager. Digital innovation hub, Acciona

At Acciona, we are always looking for transformative technologies. We focus on sustainable infrastructure, providing renewable energy to over six million homes and building critical urban infrastructure such as mass transit systems, hospitals and water treatment plants around the world. In the blockchain, we have found a technology that promises to be a catalyst for change for our businesses and our relationship with customers.

Certify the renewable origin of energy

One of the most interesting uses we have of the blockchain is to guarantee the renewable origin of the energy we produce. Acciona’s Greenchain platform is an energy traceability tool that allows our customers to track the source of the energy they consume. Since one electron is very similar to another electron and that all electrons travel along the same transmission networks, whatever their origin, Acciona’s Greenchain platform clocks the time of all electrons leaving our energy plants. renewable. Since this record is unique and immutable, we can match the output of our plants to the daily tasks to our customers. Our customers obtain accumulated daily and monthly data on the energy we have supplied and the origin of that power, including the location of the plants and a breakdown of renewable energy by source (solar, wind, hydro and so on).

When contracts and other documents are shared (and, where appropriate, signed) on blockchain platforms, the possibility of future disagreements and litigation should decrease dramatically

We are now testing the integration of social and environmental data on the Greenchain platform. This will allow our customers to measure the impact they create by choosing green energy over carbon-intensive alternatives. We see it as a valuable service, not only as a CSR verification tool for our customers, but also as a way to convince them to share our commitment to building a more sustainable future.

Singing from the same hymn sheet

Acciona also sees huge potential for blockchain platforms wherever greater traceability, security and transparency is needed in our customer interaction. Even on construction sites, the blockchain can make us more efficient. We are testing the use of a blockchain platform for QR blueprint codes, to make sure everyone in a project, from the client to the site manager, is working on the same basis and with the most up-to-date version of the project specifications. You can imagine the potential of Acciona’s QR Blueprint when it comes to reducing (costly) errors, interacting with our customers in real time and with complete transparency, and delivering complex infrastructure projects on time and on budget.

A powerful tool for transparency in public procurement

We also see blockchain as a useful tool for public procurement. Any document – offers, contracts, design projects, signatures, even the minutes of important meetings – deposited on a distributed blockchain network cannot be modified or amended, making it an extremely useful tool for increasing the transparency and security of public procurement processes. .

Governments, from the city of Seoul to the regional government of Aragon in Spain, use blockchain platforms to ensure fairness, transparency and traceability of contracts between government agencies and private contractors.

When contracts and other documents are shared (and, where appropriate, signed) on blockchain platforms, the possibility of future disagreements and disputes should decrease dramatically. As a result, Acciona has developed a blockchain platform that it uses for due diligence and contracts with its suppliers.

We have also pioneered the use of blockchain platforms to preserve and secure bid documents in public procurement. In a 2018 tender for the construction of a motorway in Norway, Acciona presented its offer and supporting documentation to a distributed blockchain ledger, which assigned each document a unique timestamp, guaranteeing its immutability.

For the contractor, blockchain platforms for smart contracts ensure:

• Traceability: a timestamp that records the time and date of delivery

• Immutability: Once archived, documents cannot be deleted. Documents stored with Blockchain IDs cannot be tampered with.

• A shared workspace: documents can be shared between all parties, each change is tracked and receives a new blockchain timestamp.

• Signing, comparing and checking what is signed: Contracts can be signed using unique blockchain IDs and, before signing, blockchain can check the documents to be signed to make sure they are identical to those that have been agreed and have not been tampered with in any case.

For the public agency, blockchain platforms for smart contracts ensure:

• Transparency and fairness in the bidding process: as documents cannot be changed or tampered with once they have been archived using blockchain technology.

• An immutable history and data security: the blockchain eliminates the risk of document falsification.

• Traceability and generation of verifiable data during the numerous phases of the procurement process.

• Confidentiality, privacy and integrity: the tender process is traceable, verifiable and supported by tamper-proof documentation.

As the uses and many benefits of blockchain technology are better understood by contractors and public agencies, it will be possible to develop common platforms to allow all parties to keep track of documents as they are shared, edited, and ultimately signed.