A Physics-Aware Real-Time Matching and Asynchronous Settlement Framework for Distributed Energy Storage Services

Abstract

Smart grids require real-time ancillary services from large-scale distributed energy storage (DES), creating a conflict between second-scale physical response needs and the slow confirmation of trust mechanisms like blockchain. Traditional VPPs lack scalability and trust for massive participation, while decentralized approaches struggle with mismatched time scales. We propose a framework that decouples real-time dispatch from asynchronous settlement. An off-chain matcher uses a physics-aware model, including a novel “service holding time” (Tservice) constraint and power (kW) envelopes, for fast assignments. A separate on-chain proof-of-stake (PoS) layer handles incentives and penalties (slashing) asynchronously. We formulate the MILP dispatch problem and provide a fast online heuristic alongside a MINLP decomposition benchmark. Co-simulations (IEEE 33-node) show that our scheme significantly outperforms baselines in success rate and latency, is robust against non-compliant nodes due to the PoS mechanism, and thereby offers a scalable and trustworthy solution.