Blockchain-Enabled Smart Grid Security: A Comprehensive Review of Architectures and Protocols

Abstract

The smart grid is the next evolution of electrical power systems, a continuation of the old grids that involves a mix of digital and traditional power grid technologies to allow the potential to communicate in both directions, decentralized energy production and real-time monitoring. However, such a connection exposes it to cyber attacks, data fraud, and unauthorized access as well. Blockchain technology is one of these technologies because it is transparent, immutable, and decentralized to overcome these security obstacles. In this paper, an overview of blockchain technology smart grid security, architecture, consensus algorithm, and application are presented. Some of the most notable blockchain works in the smart grid include secure energy trading, decentralised identity management, detecting attacks and preserving privacy. When applied in smart grids, reviewed blockchain protocols also comprise Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) along with Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). Top of that, there are hybrid types of blockchain such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of things (IoT) that are also covered as the next picture to enable the system to become more scalable and interoperable. Power consumption, time wastage, and regulation hurdle is greatly considered. This paper has concluded that blockchain is a bottom-up technology, which can cause smart grid infrastructures to be much more resilient, transparent, and efficient.