Domestic power companies are racing to introduce digital technologies, including the "internet of things" and artificial intelligence, to cope with a changing business environment. Pressure to create new services is mounting amid intensifying competition following the April 2016 full liberalization of the retail electricity market and the growing use of renewable energy sources, including solar power. Last summer, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. started a project to set up a peer-to-peer electricity trading platform together with German power firm Innogy SE. The platform allows participating individuals to directly sell their surplus solar power to local supermarkets and companies via transactions using smartphones. The service is slated to begin in Germany as early as this month.