EDF to launch cloud and BaaS blockchain offer

Via its new subsidiary Exaion, EDF embarks on the cloud computing in order to resell its unused IT resources. The French group wishes to go through a market place based on Ethereum and also prepare an offer of Blockchain as a Service (BaaS).

The leading producer and supplier of electricity in France and Europe is developing a cloud oriented HPC (high performance computing) as well as a BaaS offer which will create its own blockchain, reports JournalduNet.

Supported by its new subsidiary freshly created last December, the project is supported by EDF Pulse Croissance, the group’s incubator. The first products are expected to hit the market by the end of March.

At this time, we are finalizing the proofs of concept with partners and potential customers, "said Exaion CEO Fatih Balyeli.

An HPC-oriented private cloud

With his cloud, the electricity giant will sell its unused IT resources. Exaion could offer up to 1 petaflop of computing power and 8.5 petabytes of storage space.

In order to trace transactions and identify both the client and the computing or storage capacity concerned, EDF wishes to go through a marketplace blockchain based Ethereum.

The energy leader has not released the name of his partner. However, he may turn to Lyon iExec, which offers solutions of this type on Ethereum and with which it has already worked in the past.

A BaaS blockchain offer

Exaion also plans to market a Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) offer which will allow the implementation of public blockchains, private blockchains and smart contracts, by leveraging EDF’s computing resources.

The group will ensure that blockchains are aligned with the requirements of national and international regulatory authorities, "said Christophe Salomon, EDF CIO and chairman of the board of Exaion.

Also, by the end of the year, Exaion aims to strengthen its future BaaS offer with a conservation service for digital assets.