Analyst Insight: Blockchain Solutions for Supply Chain Management in Energy

Since 2012, Guidehouse Insights has tracked 444 total energy blockchain projects and 304 unique vendors. Of those 444 projects, 9% employ blockchain technology for supply chain management (SCM). For comparison, transactive energy (TE) remains the top use case in the energy blockchain space, with 40% of all tracked projects using the technology to provide an open energy trading marketplace. Deployment of SCM projects has remained steady since 2018, with an average of ten projects announced each year.

In the Energy Blockchain Project Tracker, Guidehouse Insights defines SCM projects as those that employ blockchain solutions to track materials or validate transactions along an energy-related supply chain. Energy blockchain SCM projects are used to collect information, track progress, and improve specific sustainability practices. They have become more difficult to track as global supply chains have become increasingly complex with the number of stakeholders, mistrust of information, and pressures from the pandemic. These shared databases can also permit regulators to verify emission reductions. Stakeholders can account for assets, certify sustainability, and understand macro-supply chain information. Data can reveal inefficiencies along the value chain and allow companies to cut costs or unnecessary transactions or reveal inefficiencies or congestion points along the chain.

The energy blockchain SCM market is expected to grow in the coming years as social and regulatory pressures will encourage companies to cut emissions and improve sustainability practices along their supply chains. The efficiency gains offered by blockchain-enabled SCM will also drive growth in this application segment. The SCM market remains in its early stages and will likely spread to other parts of the energy system beyond the current applications from oil and gas tracking to EV raw materials tracking. As blockchain applications become more widely accepted and adopted, they are expected to become the foundation for many SCM operations.