Blockchain for smart grid security: applications, trends, and challenges

Abstract

The electric power grid is the world's largest engineering system, and its secure and reliable operation is vital to human activities. The introduction of intelligence in the electrical power grid through smart grids imposes challenges that require new techniques and approaches to provide cyber-physical security. In this article, we discuss the use of blockchain to provide security and reliability to smart grids. Blockchain allows untrusted nodes to correctly and verifiably interact with each other in a distributed peer-to-peer network, without any reliable intermediary. We explore smart contracts, codes resident in blockchain that automate multi-step processes, as a way to automatically trade electric energy. We also discuss initiatives, challenges, and research opportunities of blockchain technologies in the electrical sector.