Abstract In the time of Industry 4.0, with the requirements for reducing CO2 in the atmosphere and realizing a circular economy in all aspects of life, the implementation of electric vehicles and IoT control systems was observed. The advantages and positive effects of implementing electric vehicles in the mining industry are discussed in the article. To achieve a circular economy and meet the criteria for sustainable development, a conceptual model is proposed for tracking the quantities of useful raw materials used in power batteries, as one of the main components of electric vehicles. To implement reliable and unambiguous communication among the various participants, blockchain technology is used.
Liaqat Ali, M. Imran Azim, Jan Peters, Vivek Bhandari · 8 authors
This paper presents a collated case study on local energy market (LEM) in Australia, in which energy users take part frequently in peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading among themselves considering the agile presence of energy retailers and distribution utilities. To do so, first, an overview is provided in regard to LEM architecture, trading model with energy retailers, and the blockchain structure. Then, a new P2P trading mechanism is proposed in the LEM that enables both energy users, i.e., sellers and buyers, to reap financial benefits compared to the existing business-as-usual (BAU) model — where local power is exported and imported via feed-in-tariff (FiT) and time-of-use (ToU) rates. The proposed LEM framework also exploits residential battery energy storage systems (RBESSs); and the community battery energy storage systems (CBESSs) to balance local supply and demand appropriately and contributes towards lowering exports/imports from/to power grids by means of bilateral P2P transactions while the inclusion of responsible energy retailers are assured. Moreover, the margins of both energy retailers and distribution utilities are kept unchanged or increased to some extent by the proposed trading model to incorporate them in the LEM framework effectively. Finally, diverse case studies are provided to validate the proposed LEM mechanism with various studied models and demonstrate the superior performance in contrast with the present-day BAU model.
Andrei Ionita, René Chester Goduscheit, Hessellund Lauritsen, Per, Wolfgang Prinz · 6 authors
The wind energy sector is undergoing digitalization processes that span multi-tier supply chains of turbine components and wind farm maintenance, amongst others. In an industrial use case that includes Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Vestas and APQP4Wind, the processes of producing, fastening, and servicing bolts in turbines are mapped to a digital model. The model follows the lifetime of turbine bolts from the manufacturing phase, to fastening in turbines and maintenance, until their replacement and recycling. The development of the digital model is iteratively addressed in a design science research approach, as the authors actively contribute to the project. Distributed ledgers (DLs) support the notary documentation of the bolts and turbines, from their registration phase to the assembly-, technical service verification- and recycling phases. The immutable and decentralized nature of DLs secures the data against tampering and prevents any changes taken unilaterally by engaging the service stakeholders and component providers in a blockchain consortium.
Zahra Foroozandeh, Sérgio Ramos, João Soares, Zita Vale
In this paper, a collective residential building is considered in which the following points are taken into consideration: (i) a flexibility value of Contract Power (CP) is considered for each consumer; (ii) it is assumed a single CP for the entire building; (iii) an energy resource manager entity is considered to manage the energy resources in the residential building, such as Electric Vehicles (EVs), Photovoltaic (PV) generation system, and the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Taking into consideration the previous assumptions, the major goal of this work is to minimize the electricity consumption costs of the residential building by using a Multi-Objective Mixed-Binary Linear Programming (MOMBLP) formulation. The objective function of the MOMBLP model minimizes the electricity cost consumption of each apartment. Then, a Goal Programming (GP) strategy is applied to find the most appropriate solutions for the proposed MOMBLP model. Finally, the performance of the suggested model is evaluated by comparing the obtained results from a Single-Objective Mixed-Binary Linear Programming (SOMBLP) approach in which the whole building consumption cost is minimized. The results show that using the GP strategy a reduction of 7.5% in the total annual energy consumption is verified in comparison with SOMBLP. Moreover, the GP approach leads to fair benefit among building consumers, by finding a solution with less distance from the desired level.
A Smart Community (SC) is an essential part of the Internet of Energy (IoE), which helps to integrate Electric Vehicles (EVs) and distributed renewable energy sources in a smart grid. As a result of the potential privacy and security challenges in the distributed energy system, it is becoming a great problem to optimally schedule EVs’ charging with different energy consumption patterns and perform reliable energy trading in the SC. In this paper, a blockchain‐based privacy‐preserving energy trading system for 5G‐deployed SC is proposed. The proposed system is divided into two components: EVs and residential prosumers. In this system, a reputation‐based distributed matching algorithm for EVs and a Reward‐based Starvation Free Energy Allocation Policy (RSFEAP) for residential homes are presented. A short‐term load forecasting model for EVs’ charging using multiple linear regression is proposed to plan and manage the intermittent charging behavior of EVs. In the proposed system, identity‐based encryption and homomorphic encryption techniques are integrated to protect the privacy of transactions and users, respectively. The performance of the proposed system for EVs’ component is evaluated using convergence duration, forecasting accuracy, and executional and transactional costs as performance metrics. For the residential prosumers’ component, the performance is evaluated using reward index, type of transactions, energy contributed, average convergence time, and the number of iterations as performance metrics. The simulation results for EVs’ charging forecasting gives an accuracy of 99.25%. For the EVs matching algorithm, the proposed privacy‐preserving algorithm converges faster than the bichromatic mutual nearest neighbor algorithm. For RSFEAP, the number of iterations for 50 prosumers is 8, which is smaller than the benchmark. Its convergence duration is also 10 times less than the benchmark scheme. Moreover, security and privacy analyses are presented. Finally, we carry out security vulnerability analysis of smart contracts to ensure that the proposed smart contracts are secure and bug‐free against the common vulnerabilities’ attacks. The results show that the smart contracts are secure against both internal and external attacks.
In this study, artificial intelligence, the Internet of things, and blockchain technology were combined to develop a vehicle-to-everything blockchain power trading and energy management platform with the objective of enabling multi-level power transactions for electric vehicle charging stations in or between commercial buildings. The proposed platform considers green power transactions across microgrids, bidirectional power and green power charging and discharging transactions in microgrids, demand response bidding, and vehicle-to-vehicle emergency rescue charging. This innovative architecture operates smart contracts and distributed ledgers independently; uses smart contracts to handle bidding, matching, and settlement of the power trading platform; and simultaneously employs the cloud and local distributed ledger nodes to chain the detailed real-time transaction information and power data on the ledger. In this manner, the security and fairness of data can be ensured; furthermore, a large amount of chaining information can be processed, and the chaining latency can be shortened. In addition, the communication protocols are integrated through the artificial intelligence of things. An energy management system (EMS) is proposed, which can perform optimal charging and discharging scheduling according to the power transaction matching results and then control charging piles and energy storage system devices. It can reduce the operating cost of microgrids in commercial buildings, increase the efficiency of green power utilization, and reduce power loss. In this system, power transactions are automatically and simultaneously executed in the EMS to achieve real-time supply and demand balance of regional microgrids.
A smart electric vehicle (EV) charging station energy management system (CSMS) based on blockchain technology, which aims to protect privacy of EV users, ensure fairness of power transactions, and meet charging demands for large numbers of EVs, is proposed in this study. EV charging pile is designed as a local blockchain distributed ledger node, which operates synchronously with blockchain system and blockchain distributed ledger in cloud server. This paper integrates CSMS through smart contracts, providing EV users that ability to conduct power transactions and perform optimal charging and discharging control in real-time. The distributed ledger is in charge of recording all the EV charging and discharging data to maintain fairness of power transactions, protects data from being maliciously tampered, and enables the EV user to monitor status of the EV participating in power transactions and dispatching. The intelligent CSMS consists of an artificial intelligence (AI) module, centralized optimal scheduling module, and decentralized optimal control module. The AI module is responsible for forecasting renewable energy generation and load consumption. There is a two-layer architecture consisting of centralized and decentralized optimal control modules; the upper layer performs optimal charging and discharging scheduling of the entire EV charging station at time 15-min time segments, the bottom layer performs distributed optimal scheduling control in each EV charging pile at 5 min time interval. Proposed system in this paper can deal with feeder congestion and real-time power supply and grid demand imbalance, which are caused by high numbers of EVs.
To further implement decentralized renewable energy resources, blockchain based peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is gaining attention and its architecture has been proposed with virtual demonstrations. In this paper, to further socially implement this concept, a blockchain based peer to peer energy trading system which could coordinate with energy control hardware was constructed, and a demonstration experiment was conducted. Previous work focused on virtually matching energy supply and demand via blockchain P2P energy markets, and our work pushes this forward by demonstrating the possibility of actual energy flow control. In this demonstration, Plug-in Hybrid Electrical Vehicles(PHEVs) and Home Energy Management Systems(HEMS) actually used in daily life were controlled in coordination with the blockchain system. In construction, the need of a multi-tagged continuous market was found and proposed. In the demonstration experiment, the proposed blockchain market and hardware control interface was proven capable of securing and stably transmitting energy within the P2P energy system. Also, by the implementation of multi-tagged energy markets, the number of transactions required to secure the required amount of electricity was reduced.
Profound changes driven by decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization are disrupting the energy industry, bringing new challenges to its key stakeholders. In the attempt to address the climate change issue, increasing penetration of renewables and mobility electrification augment the complexity of the electric grid, thus calling for new management approaches to govern energy exchanges while ensuring reliable and secure operations. The emerging blockchain technology is regarded as one of the most promising solutions to respond to the matter in a decentralized, efficient, fast, and secure way. In this work, we propose an Ethereum-based charging management framework for electric vehicles (EVs), tightly interlinked with physical and software infrastructure and implemented in a real-world demonstration site. With a specifically designed solidity-based smart contract governing the charging process, the proposed framework enables secure and reliable accounting of energy exchanges in a network of trustless peers, thus facilitating the EVs’ deployment and encouraging the adoption of blockchain technology for everyday tasks such as EV charging through private and semi-private charging infrastructure. The results of a multi-actor implementation case study in Switzerland demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed blockchain framework and highlight its potential to reduce costs in a typical EV charging business model. Moreover, the study shows that the suggested framework can speed up the charging and billing processes for EV users, simplify the access to energy markets for charging station owners, and facilitate the interaction between the two through specifically designed mobile and web applications. The implementation presented in this paper can be used as a guideline for future blockchain applications for EV charging and other smart grid projects.
The era of Electric Vehicles (EVs) has influenced the very make and manufacture of vehicles resulting in low pollution and advanced battery life. On the other hand, the internet of things has also expanded allowing a number of devices to stay connected using the internet. Massive drawbacks faced by EVs today are the limitation in battery swapping and charging stations and limitation in the range of batteries used. This proposed paper aims to efficiently manage the best battery system apart from building the essential infrastructure. In some cases battery swapping option is also provided through other EV drivers or at registered stations. Hence a complete database of the EV network is required so that it is possible to swap and charge batteries successfully. An EV management using two blockchains as a data layer and network of the application is implemented in this work. The first step involves the development of a blockchain framework using Ethereum and the next step entails a direct acyclic graph. When integrated, these two methodologies prove to be an efficient platform that offers a viable solution for battery management in Electric Vehicles.
Energy as a service (EaaS) is an emerging business model that enables the otherwise passive energy consumers to play an active role and participate in the energy utility services. This platform is formed through smart contracts registering peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions of energy through price and quantity. Many industries, including finance, have already leveraged smart contracts to introduce digital currencies. At this time, the utility industry is faced with the challenge of how to structure smart contract formation in a local energy market. Specifically, they are faced with the challenge of maintaining a balance between energy generation and demand while enabling traceability, security, and unbiased peer-to-peer energy transactions, especially within a virtual power plant. This article aims at addressing the aforementioned challenges. In particular, this article investigates how to structure the microgrids in a local energy market, and how to ensure balance and resiliency with incomplete information. Taking various generation asset dimensions and demand profiles into account, simulations are performed. A novel evolutionary computing strategy to structure the simulation is proposed. A comparison is made among random order, random selection, profit-based ranking, and evolutionary strategy for coordinating the contract formation. The discussions draw attention to each method's advantages and disadvantages in terms of their value as a strategy for forming smart contracts in a local energy market.
Recent years have seen a surge of interest in distributed residential batteries for households with renewable generation. Yet, assuring battery assets are profitable for their owners requires a complex optimisation of the battery asset and additional revenue sources, such as novel ways to access wholesale energy markets. In this paper, we propose a framework in which wholesale market bids are placed on forward energy markets by an aggregator of distributed residential batteries that are controlled in real time by a novel Home Energy Management System (HEMS) control algorithm to meet the market commitments, while maximising local self-consumption. The proposed framework consists of three stages. In the first stage, an optimal day-ahead or intra-day scheduling of the aggregated storage assets is computed centrally. For the second stage, a bidding strategy is developed for wholesale energy markets. Finally, in the third stage, a novel HEMS real-time control algorithm based on a smart contract allows coordination of residential batteries to meet the market commitments and maximise self-consumption of local production. Using a case study provided by a large U.K.-based energy demonstrator, we apply the framework to an aggregator with 70 residential batteries. Experimental analysis is done using real per minute data for demand and production. Results indicate that the proposed approach increases the aggregator's revenues by 35% compared to a case without residential flexibility, and increases the self-consumption rate of the households by a factor of two. The robustness of the results to uncertainty, forecast errors and to communication latency is also demonstrated.
Zahra Foroozandeh, Sérgio Ramos, João Soares, Zita Vale
This paper proposed a Mixed Binary Linear Programming (MBLP) approach to find the optimal size of some components of a Smart Building (SB) attempting to reduce the overall cost. The considered SB is equipped with local resources such as Photovoltaic (PV) panels, Electrical Vehicles (EVs), and the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Moreover, the SB is only connected with the grid by an Energy Management System (EMS) in which the whole SB has a single Contract Power (CP) such that EMS manages the power flow among external grid, local resources, apartments, and common services, for the goal of reducing the electricity bill. Hence, the wrong choice of CP and BESS capacity will impose unnecessary charges on the electricity bill. As a results, EMS has played a crucial role in SB in determining the best CP and BESS values. The obtained results of this work show the efficiency of the model in which by finding the optimal capacity of CP and BESS, the electricity bill improves by a 34% reduction.
The promising power-to-gas (P2G) technology makes it possible for wind farms to absorb carbon and trade in multiple energy markets. Considering the remoteness of wind farms equipped with P2G systems and the isolation of different energy markets, the scheduling process may suffer from inefficient coordination and unstable information. An automated scheduling approach is thus proposed. Firstly, an automated scheduling framework enabled by smart contract is established for reliable coordination between wind farms and multiple energy markets. Considering the limited logic complexity and insufficient calculation of smart contracts, an off-chain procedure as a workaround is proposed to avoid complex on-chain solutions. Next, a non-linear model of the P2G system is developed to enhance the accuracy of scheduling results. The scheduling strategy takes into account not only the revenues from multiple energy trades, but also the penalties for violating contract items in smart contracts. Then, the implementation of smart contracts under a blockchain environment is presented with multiple participants, including voting in an agreed scheduling result as the plan. Finally, the case study is conducted in a typical two-stage scheduling process—i.e., day-ahead and real-time scheduling—and the results verify the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Regulating and supervising the energy vehicle (EV) power battery recycling market, improving the utilization rate of EV power battery recycling, and guaranteeing the safety and control of all aspects of recycling treatment require the establishment of an effective traceability system. The decentralization and tamper-proof characteristics of the blockchain can ensure the safety and reliability of relevant data while realizing traceability management. This study establishes the Stackelberg game model to compare and analyze the effects of different government mechanisms on the profits of each subject before and after participating in power battery traceability management. The study further uses the model to explore strategies to improve the enthusiasm of EV power battery recycling subjects to participate in traceability management. The results show that (1) the participation of each recycling subject in EV power battery blockchain traceability can help move more spent power batteries into formal recycling channels; (2) the government should adopt appropriate mechanisms to promote its participation in EV power battery blockchain traceability, the best result being when the government adopts a subsidy mechanism for consumers; and (3) the profit of the EV power battery manufacturer is inversely proportional to the target recycling rate set by the government. Furthermore, the pursuit of a very high target recycling rate is not conducive to the normal implementation of initial EV power battery blockchain traceability management. Therefore, it is crucial for the government to set a reasonable target recycling rate.
The world is moving rapidly from carbon-producing vehicles to green transportation systems. Electric vehicles (EV) are a big step towards a friendly mode of transport. With the constant rise in the number of electric vehicles, we need a widespread and seamless charging infrastructure that supports seamless charging and billing. Some users generate electricity using solar panels and charge their electric vehicles. In contrast, some use charging stations, and they pay for vehicle charging. This raises the question of trust and transparency. There are many countries where laws are not strictly enforced to prevent fraud in payment systems. One of the preeminent problems presently existing with any of the trading systems is the lack of transparency. The service provider can overcharge the customer. Blockchain is a modern-day solution that mitigates trust and privacy issues. We have proposed a peer-to-peer energy trading and charging payment system for electric vehicles based on blockchain technology. Users who have excess electricity which they can sell to the charging stations through smart contracts. Electric vehicle users can pay the charging bills through electronic wallets. We have developed the electric vehicle’s automatic-payment system using the open-source platform Hyperledger fabric. The proposed system will reduce human interaction and increase trust, transparency, and privacy among EV participants. We have analyzed the resource utilization and also performed average transaction latency and throughput evaluation. This system can be helpful for the policymakers of smart cities.
Matthew Gough, Sérgio F. Santos, Artur Almeida, Mohammad Sadegh Javadi · 7 authors
The combination of consumer owned Distributed Energy Resources, new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), as well as changes to the national electricity regulations have created new opportunities for consumer engagement in the electricity sector. In this paper, this combination of technologies and regulations is examined in the Portuguese context. The new regulations dealing with self-consumption from prosumers are combined with smart contracts and distributed ledger technology to formulate an automated energy trading system for residential end-users in local energy markets. Results show that including prosumers in the local energy market brings significant benefits to all market participants. Additionally, results show that the newly created regulatory role of a Market Facilitator is beneficial to these type of local energy exchanges.
Purchases of electric vehicles have been increasing in recent years. These vehicles differ from traditional fossil-fuel-based vehicles especially in the time consumed to keep them running. Electric-Vehicle-charging Service Providers (EVSPs) must arrange reasonable charging times for users in advance. Most EVSP services are based on third-party platforms, but reliance on third-party platforms creates a lack of security, leaving users vulnerable to attacks and user-privacy leakages. In this paper, we propose an anonymous blockchain-based system for charging-connected electric vehicles that eliminates third-party platforms through blockchain technology and the establishment of a multi-party security system between electric vehicles and EVSPs. In our proposed system, digital certificates are obtained by completing distributed Public Key Infrastructure (distributed-PKI) identity registration, with the user registration kept separate from the verification process, which eliminates dependence on the EVSP for information security. In the verification process, we adopt smart contracts to solve problems associated with centralized verification and opaque services. Furthermore, we utilize zero-knowledge proof and ring-signature superposition to realize completely anonymous verification, which ensures undeniability and unforgeability with no detriment to anonymity. The evaluation results show that the user anonymity, information authenticity, and system security of our system fulfill the necessary requirements.
With the development of the Energy Internet and the support of the subsidy policies of various countries, Electric Vehicles(EVs) have ushered in a golden development period. However, the development of EVs needs to solve the problems of insufficient charging piles(CPs) and difficulty in finding CPs. In order to solve the problem of difficult charging of EVs, the concept of shared charging came into being, in which idle CPs or private CPs are shared to meet the charging needs of more people and improve the utilization rate of CPs. However, the shared charging scheme implemented by third-party platforms faces the issue of trust lacking. This paper proposes a blockchain architecture for shared charging, which can use the blockchain to build a trust environment involving private pile owners, charging pile(CP) operators, Electric Vehicle(EV) users, etc.. The blockchain architecture also contains the block structure where pointer was added for quick search, contract content that can automatically execute multi-party contracts to achieve secure computing and reputation-based incentive mechanism to provide high-quality charging services in detail. This architecture establishes the multi-party trust environment for shared charging from three aspects: secure storage, secure computing, and secure incentives.
Based on the diffusion of blockchain technology in the smart grid, this paper studies the framework and application of the blockchain technology in the smart grid, so as to combine the blockchain with the smart grid and establish a sustainable supply chain. However, the establishment of a sustainable supply chain is based on a layered theoretical framework. Not only should the framework take into account needless attributes and the relationship among various criteria and aspects but the application should also involve a balance of multiple stakeholders. For the above reasons, this paper uses a combination of Fuzzy-DEMATEL and ISM. The results show that (1) the hierarchical path of sustainable supply chain management of the smart grid under the blockchain starts from the social level, pays attention to system construction, grasps the technical standards, and defines the development goals of the power grid. (2) The development of green energy has become a new market growth point. (3) The control of the operation level becomes the focus of the smart grid. (4) The optimization and development of the economic structure are restricted by social factors. By integrating and optimizing the blockchain and supply chain, this paper puts forward a theoretical framework, establishes a sustainable GIP application system with multistakeholder participation at the supply chain level, and indicates the significance of the blockchain in the smart grid.
João C. Ferreira, Catarina Ferreira da Silva, Jose P. Martins
We present a suitable approach to address the electric vehicle charging roaming problem (e-roaming). Blockchain technologies are applied to support the identity management process of users charging their vehicles and to record energy transactions securely. At the same time, off-chain cloud-based storage is used to record the transaction details. A user wallet settled on a mobile application stores user verified credentials; a backend application in the vehicle charging station validates the user credentials to authorize the energy transaction. The current model can be applied to similar contexts where the user may be required to keep several credentials from different providers to authenticate digital transactions.
Zhaoxiong Huang, Zhenhao Li, Chun Sing Lai, Zhuoli Zhao · 8 authors
This work presents a novel blockchain-based energy trading mechanism for electric vehicles consisting of day-ahead and real-time markets. In the day-ahead market, electric vehicle users submit their bidding price to participate in the double auction mechanism. Subsequently, the smart match mechanism will be conducted by the charging system operator, to meet both personal interests and social benefits. After clearing the trading result, the charging system operator uploads the trading contract made in the day-ahead market to the blockchain. In the real-time market, the charging system operator checks the trading status and submits the updated trading results to the blockchain. This mechanism encourages participants in the double auction to pursue higher interests, in addition to rationally utilize the energy unmatched in the auction and to achieve the improvement of social welfare. Case studies are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. For buyers and sellers who successfully participate in the day-ahead market, the total profit increase for buyer and seller are 22.79% and 53.54%, respectively, as compared to without energy trading. With consideration of social welfare in the smart match mechanism, the peak load reduces from 182 to 146.5 kW, which is a 19.5% improvement.
Ahmet Yagmur, Beyhan Adanur Dedetürk, Ahmet Soran, Jaesung Jung · 5 authors
This paper discusses blockchain-based energy applications from the distribution system operator (DSO) perspective. Blockchain has a potential impact on newly emergent actors, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and charging facility units (CFUs) of the electricity grid. Although Blockchain offers magnificent decentralized solutions, owing to the reality of the existing grid structure, the central management of DSOs still plays a significant, non-negligible role. Numerous studies of proposed blockchain-based EV systems have investigated the energy costs of EVs, fast and efficient charging, privacy and security, P2P energy trading, sharing economy, selection of appropriate CFUs location, and scheduling. However, cooperation with DSO organizations has not been adequately addressed. Blockchain-based solutions mainly suggest an entirely distributed and decentralized approach for energy trading; however, converting the entire power system infrastructure is considerably expensive. Building a thoroughly decentralized electricity network is nearly impossible in a short time, particularly at the national grid level. In this regard, the applicability of the solutions is as significant as their appropriateness, especially from the DSO perspective, and must be examined closely. We searched and analyzed the blockchain literature related to EVs, CFUs, DERs, microgrids, marketing, and DSOs to define the DSO-based requirements for potential blockchain applications in the energy sector, specifically EV evolution.