Unlocking New Opportunities Towards Smart Contracts for Transactive Energy Systems: Technical and Legislative Perspectives

Abstract

Integration of distributed energy resources (DES), especially renewable energy and storage resources, into the electrical power grid has introduced new challenges such as bidirectional power flow, distributed energy markets, trust between participants, etc. As a result, it is needed to share and trade energy among participants in a trusted environment for distributed markets, either as individuals or aggregators, by negotiating based on demand, price, time of day or others. Transactive Energy Systems (TESs) provide a unique environment to engage end participants and non-traditional resources to address the grid challenges, while Blockchains provide a unique technology to address the trust problem through the use of a distributed ledger, cryptocurrencies, and the execution of smart contracts. This study explores the automation features - commonly referred to as smart contracts - of blockchain technology. This paper also aims to reflect the international industrial, academic and entrepreneurial perspectives.