Wien Energie – Austria’s largest electricity and natural gas supplier – has collaborated with technology giant Bosch to develop a blockchain-driven refrigerator.

Announcing the news during the ANON Blockchain Summit in Vienna, Wien Energie claimed that this blockchain-based fridge will help to grow consumer interest in the renewable consumption of energy.

By applying blockchain, the fridge will allow its user to choose the source of energy, either a solar panel or a wind power plant. The fridge then uses each kilowatt produced and traces it to the origin.

Wien Energie noted that the blockchain-driven refrigerator is fully operated through a smartphone app. Users can adjust the temperature and freezer, check the fridge’s door is closed or not, and track the CO2 emissions produced by the fridge as well as monitor the user’s energy consumption.

As announced, the model is still not officially sold on the market. Wien Energie and its partner Bosch will put the blockchain fridge into a trial for the coming months before launching it at a mass scale.

Peter Gönitzer, Wien Energie CEO, said that blockchain will be a useful tool for reducing energy consumption as the technology will allow a transparency environment.

Wien Energie also aims to test blockchain application in the energy sector on a worldwide basis. The company has partnered with Riddle & Code – a blockchain interface company – to develop a project that aims to find out the suitable energy tariffs for an area. The project has been planned to kick off in the next few months with supports of 100 residents of that area.

As reported in March, Wien Energie has revealed the launch of a charger for electric cars based on distributed ledger technology (DLT).