Utilizing Blockchain Technology for Settlement in a Microgrid

Abstract

Blockchains have been embraced by many industries where transactions, either financial\nor non-financial, are involved. Furthermore, blockchains have been proven to\nsupport transactions, without the need for a third-party or other middlemen. Given\nthe distributed properties of blockchains, they are very suitable as the underlying\nfoundation of peer-to-peer applications. Among the peer-to-peer applications that\ncould be improved with the support of blockchains, is the microgrid. Microgrids\nare finite energy systems where peers may purchase energy among themselves.\n\nThis thesis investigates the blockchains ability to work as the underlying technology\nto support settlement in a microgrid. The blockchain is essentially a distributed,\nimmutable ledger. However, there exists many versions of this ledger based on implementation\nfeatures such as governance and consensus etc. A thorough background\nstudy of blockchains, and the differences in the blockchain features are presented.\nFurthermore, existing systems using blockchains for settlement in peer-to-peer\nenergy systems are presented. Based on the findings in the background study and\nrelated work, a new blockchain as the technology for supporting these transactions\nis proposed and implemented. Results from the tests show that the proof-of-concept\nblockchain developed in this thesis works well as the underlying technology for\nsettling energy flow in a microgrid. However, further development and testing is\nrequired for a real system.