Baraa Mohandes, Mohamed Shawky El Moursi, Nikos Hatziargyriou, Sameh El Khatib
This article proposes a DR program characterized by a novel compensation scheme. The proposed scheme recognizes the different characteristics of curtailment, such as the total length of curtailments within a window of time, or the number of separate curtailment events (i.e., curtailment startup), and compensates the end-user accordingly. The proposed compensation scheme features a piece-wise reward function comprised of two intervals. DR participants receive a onetime reward upfront when they enroll in the DR program and accept a set of predefined curtailment aspects. Curtailment aspects in excess of the agreed quantities are rewarded at a linear rate. This design is tailored to appeal to residential DR participants, and aims to secure sufficient flexibility at minimum cost. The parameters of the smart contract are optimized such that the system's social welfare is maximized. The optimization problem is modeled as a mixed-integer linear program. Consequently, this article updates the unit-commitment (UC) formulation with the commitment aspects of DR units. The proposed extension to the UC problem considers the critical aspects of DR participation, such as: the total length of interruptions within a window, the frequency of interruptions within a time-window irrespective of their length, and the net energy deviation from the original load profile. Deployment of the smart DR contract in the unit dispatch problem requires translating DR participants' characteristics to their equivalent aspects in conventional thermal generators, such as minimum up time, minimum down-time, start-up and shutdown costs. The obtained results demonstrate significant improvement in social welfare, notable reduction of curtailed renewable energy and reduction in extreme ramping events of conventional generators.
Through transactive energy (TE) platforms, prosumers can enter into a contractual agreement with an Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to buy and sell energy. Accordingly, the TE contract holders are liable for contractual violations. Manual compliance checking of such transactions is infeasible due to large number of market rules as well as the plethora of executing TE contracts. Moreover, the TE system big data (e.g., offers, bids, and transaction activities) need to be maintained on a transparent, reliable, and secure plat-form. This paper presents a compliance checking method for transactive energy markets based on the IESO (in Ontario, Canada) market rules by using smart contracts that assure the integrity, reliability, and transparency of energy transactions’ data with a permissioned blockchain. The performance of the blockchain network is evaluated through transaction latency and resource utilization. In addition, an acceptance test is successfully conducted to validate the correctness of the platform in terms of trading workflow, runtime status of the TE contracts, and the quality of market clearing results.
Aigerim Iskakova, H. S. V. S. Kumar Nunna, Pierluigi Siano
Blockchain is one of the emerging security technologies that have enormous potential in diverse sectors such as financial organization, academic institutions, national government, business sphere. In this paper, we focus on the application of blockchain systems in the energy industry addressing potential challenges and limitations in this area. The deployment of the proliferation of distributed energy resources requires an efficient and reliable transactive energy (TE) management system in terms of peer-to-peer energy trading. Independence of the energy management system from financial transactions can cause an insecure and vulnerable energy exchange environment. The proposed system design focuses on eliminating gaps in the security by the integration of decentralized application technology with the TE management and Multi-Agent System. The paper discusses the Ethereum blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy trading platform based on the enforced smart contract that controls both financial transactions and energy interchange operations for power trading systems.
The increasing penetration of renewable energy and its inherent uncertainty necessitate the development of energy storage in the power system. Currently, the value of energy storage is still not fully unlocked because of 1) misallocation between the energy storage demands and resources, 2) lack of an energy storage sharing mechanism. To solve the above limitations, this paper designs an energy storage sharing mechanism via blockchain. A bidding model is established to optimize the bidding strategies of energy storage in joint energy, frequency, and FRP (flexible ramping product) market. Then, a blockchain-based P2P (peer-to-peer) energy storage sharing mechanism in the joint markets is proposed to enable trustworthy and transparent trading. Simulation results on a Substrate private blockchain verify the efficiency of the proposed mechanism.
Renewable energy resources are key components of the sustainable social development that has been rapidly deployed in recent years. The proliferation of renewable energy resources promotes socioeconomic development in various parts of the world, and islandable microgrids (MGs) play an increasingly important role in such development. MGs represent a viable alternative to conventional bulk power transmission for addressing the vulnerabilities of long-distance power delivery from centralized generation units to distributed customer sites. A controllable MG equipped with on-site distributed energy resources (DERs), which could include distributed generators, energy storage, and economic demand responses, cultivates local resources to enhance the reliability, resilience, sustainability, security, and economics of local power systems.
In this paper, we evaluate and analyze the performance of a local electricity market for energy trading that we implemented on the Ethereum platform. The energy trading is based on a double auction with multiple sellers and multiple buyers, and the matched price and volume are determined by a trade reduction mechanism. We benchmark the performance of Ethereum using a systematic blockchain performance evaluation method, and based on this, we propose and analyze an efficient market operation method. In particular, we relate the limits on the scalability and real-time performance of the market to the throughput and latency of the Ethereum platform. We also identify the minimum resources necessary to operate an Ethereum client.
The exponential growth in energy demand led to increased demand-response gaps and decreased service quality of modern ICT-based smart grid (SG) in industry 4.0. It necessitates an efficient Demand Response Management (DRM) system in order to tackle aforementioned challenges. However, several DRM solutions exist, but these solutions are not adequate in terms of peak loads reduction, consumer comfort, and data security issues. Motivated from above facts, in this paper, we propose a scheme ϵ-Sutra, which is a security-aware DRM scheme for the SG system based on blockchain technology and integrated with data analytics. Here, a DRM algorithm is proposed to reduce peak energy consumption along with an incentive mechanism to consumers. ϵ-Sutra is incorporated with Ethereum-based smart contract (ESC) to handle security issues and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) for data storage cost issues. The efficacy of the ϵ-Sutra scheme is evaluated in contrast with existing solutions based on various evaluation metrics.
D. Danalakshmi, R. Gopi, A. Hariharasudan, Iwona Otola · 5 authors
The energy market is gradually changing from centralized trading to peer-to-peer trading due to the tremendous increase in a microgrid with green energy resources. When more generating units are included in the microgrid, the possibilities of more reactive power flows exist in the system that leads to high transmission loss which has to be optimized. The reactive power is one of the essential ancillary services in the microgrid towards preserving the voltage in the transmission and distribution line. The major contribution of the paper is towards managing the ancillary service in the distributed energy network economically and technically. This study aims to estimate and optimize the power loss, reactive power, and price management as well. Towards optimization, the self-balanced differential evolution algorithm (SBDE) is used in this study. A distribution system operator is involved in coordinating the sellers and buyers. The proposed layered microgrid architecture uses the blockchain technology for reactive power price management by providing transparency and security among peers. The process of converging various transactions into a block and adding in the distributed blockchain is illustrated. Multiple transactions are performed by using the proposed methodology, giving efficient energy transaction. The results show that the power loss is minimized using SBDE algorithm for different cases. Additionally, the study has demonstrated the price allocation of the optimal reactive power obtained from providers. The blockchain technology embedded in reactive power pricing will play a significant role in the evolution of traditional power distribution systems to active distribution networks.
The adoption of blockchain for Transactive Energy has gained significant momentum as it allows mutually non-trusting agents to trade energy services in a trustless energy market. Research to date has assumed that the built-in Byzantine Fault Tolerance in recording transactions in a ledger is sufficient to ensure integrity. Such work must be extended to address security gaps including random bilateral transactions that do not guarantee reliable and efficient market operation, and market participants having incentives to cheat when reporting actual production/consumption figures. Work herein introduces the Electron Volt Exchange framework with the following characteristics: 1) a distributed protocol for pricing and scheduling prosumers' production/consumption while keeping constraints and bids private, and 2) a distributed algorithm to prevent theft that verifies prosumers' compliance to scheduled transactions using information from grid sensors (such as smart meters) and mitigates the impact of false data injection attacks. Flexibility and robustness of the approach are demonstrated through simulation and implementation using Hyperledger Fabric.
Marco Schletz, Ana Cristina Cardoso, Gabriela Prata Dias, Søren Salomo
This paper qualitatively evaluates the application of blockchain technology for three energy efficiency use cases. To achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda, energy efficiency improvements have to double by 2030. However, the adoption of energy efficiency interventions is slow due to several market barriers. Blockchain technology is a nascent technology with the potential to address these barriers or even fundamentally change energy system designs, by enabling transparent, decentralised, and tamper-resilient systems. Nevertheless, a blockchain application comes with trade-offs and needs to be considered on a case by case basis. In this paper, we examine the benefits and constraints of a blockchain application for three different approaches to achieving energy efficiency: (i) peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading; (ii) White Certificate Scheme (WCS); and (iii) Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). For each of these cases, we apply a decision framework to assess blockchain feasibility and outline a potential blockchain-based design. The analysis shows that blockchain functions are case dependent and that an application creates different governance and system designs due to varying case characteristics. We discuss how the identified blockchain adoption barriers can be overcome and stress the need for policy action to advance the development of pilot studies. By decentralising system governance, blockchain enables innovative designs that can accelerate the implementation of energy efficiency interventions.
Godwin C. Okwuibe, Michel Zadé, Peter Tzscheutschler, Thomas Hamacher · 5 authors
The framework presented provides an open-source, blockchain-based, peer-to-peer energy market platform which can be used for testing different setups or for creating a microgrid peer-to-peer trading platform. The framework offers the following possibilities: · variations of the trading horizon, metering intervals; · simulations within a fraction of the real time; · variations of the number of participants; · multiple operated microgrids within one smart contract; · clearing mechanisms with discriminative prices or a market clearing price; · functionality to log data exchanged with the blockchain; production and consumption data of each participant, electricity exchanged within the microgrid and the main grid, token balances of all participants, · variation of the price ranges.
Ayman Esmat, Martijn de Vos, Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal, Peter Pálenský · 5 authors
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading, which allows energy consumers/producers to directly trade with each other, is one of the new paradigms driven by the decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization of the energy supply chain. Additionally, the rise of blockchain technology suggests unprecedented socio-economic benefits for energy systems, especially when coupled with P2P energy trading. Despite such future prospects in energy systems, three key challenges might hinder the full integration of P2P energy trading and blockchain. First, it is quite complicated to design a decentralized P2P market that keeps a fair balance between economic efficiency and information privacy. Secondly, with the proliferation of storage devices, new P2P market designs are needed to account for their inter-temporal dependencies. Thirdly, a practical implementation of blockchain technology for P2P trading is required, which can facilitate efficient trading in a secured and fraud-resilient way, while eliminating any intermediaries’ costs. In this paper, we develop a new decentralized P2P energy trading platform to address all the aforementioned challenges. Our platform consists of two key layers: market and blockchain. The market layer features a parallel and short-term pool-structured auction and is cleared using a novel decentralized Ant-Colony Optimization method. This market arrangement guarantees a near-optimally efficient market solution, preserves players’ privacy, and allows inter-temporal market products trading. The blockchain layer offers a high level of automation, security, and fast real-time settlements through smart contract implementation. Finally, using real-world data, we simulate the functionality of the platform regarding energy trading, market clearing, smart contract operations, and blockchain-based settlements.
The recent burgeon of decentralized techniques has highlighted peer-to-peer transactions. And the high degree of trading freedom and efficiency in peer-to-peer transactions has facilitated the implementation to allocate energy in power systems. During attempts to apply blockchain in energy trading, researchers found Smart Contract, an essential function of blockchain, beneficial to the energy trading efficiency, besides the ability of keeping trading data tamper-resistant. To analyze the feasibility, validity and advantages of methods to accomplish decentralized energy transactions based on Smart Contract, we presented a basic model to illustrate the principle of how to use Smart Contract in energy trading at first. Then, we summarized three typical methods with diverse characteristics, including Independent Negotiation, Pre-distributing Strategy, and Smart Contract Processing. Besides, we designed one trading example based on the Pre-distributing Strategy, with the application scenario of Virtual Power Plant in power systems. The trading result showed that proper adaptions of the method can satisfy some requirements such as reducing the pollution emission.
Yingchun Feng, Jie Fan, Hao Chen, Qixin Wang · 6 authors
Abstract Transnational power trading can promote the development of global energy Internet, which can enable various countries and regions to optimize the allocation of resources on a larger scale. However, transnational electricity trading still faces many challenges. First, the issues of trust, member management, and huge transaction volume hinder the development of transnational power trading. Second, the issues of considering the differences among countries and establishing a reasonable and efficient transnational power market trading mechanism are also particularly important. The emergence of a consortium‐blockchain technology provides a new idea of solving these problems. The distributed‐ledger technology and member‐management services of a consortium blockchain can solve the problems of trust in the transnational power transaction and access the review of market subjects. Simultaneously, the chain‐code technology can be used to improve the efficiency of transactions. Therefore, according to the actual needs of transnational power transactions, the applicability of the consortium‐blockchain technology was analysed. Then, a mathematical model of transnational power transactions that considered the transaction costs was designed, and simulation tests were conducted on Hyperledger Fabric. The calculation example shows that the proposed transaction model plays a positive role and significance in promoting transnational power transactions and stabilizing the market.
Mirza Jabbar Aziz Baig, M. Tariq Iqbal, Mohsin Jamil, Jahangir Khan
The growing energy demand and rising number of prosumers of the low-cost renewable energy, require state-of-the-art energy management solution without involvement of a thirdparty. Internet of things (IoT) and blockchain based Peer to Peer(P2P) energy trading model is the one, where peers can participatein the electricity market and trade energy independently. This pilotstage research gives all the basic understanding with technicaldetails of an IoT and blockchain based peer to peer (P2P) energytrading platform. It fulfills the needs of prosumers and give economic benefits to the participants. The proposed Peer to Peer(P2P) energy trading platform provides all the key features like energy transfer, metering, money transfer to facilitate energytrading. The proposed system uses only open source software.
Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar, Aneesh A. Chand, Maria Malvoni, Kushal A. Prasad · 7 authors
Smart grid (SG), an evolving concept in the modern power infrastructure, enables the two-way flow of electricity and data between the peers within the electricity system networks (ESN) and its clusters. The self-healing capabilities of SG allow the peers to become active partakers in ESN. In general, the SG is intended to replace the fossil fuel-rich conventional grid with the distributed energy resources (DER) and pools numerous existing and emerging know-hows like information and digital communications technologies together to manage countless operations. With this, the SG will able to “detect, react, and pro-act” to changes in usage and address multiple issues, thereby ensuring timely grid operations. However, the “detect, react, and pro-act” features in DER-based SG can only be accomplished at the fullest level with the use of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Blockchain (BC). The techniques associated with AI include fuzzy logic, knowledge-based systems, and neural networks. They have brought advances in controlling DER-based SG. The IoT and BC have also enabled various services like data sensing, data storage, secured, transparent, and traceable digital transactions among ESN peers and its clusters. These promising technologies have gone through fast technological evolution in the past decade, and their applications have increased rapidly in ESN. Hence, this study discusses the SG and applications of AI, IoT, and BC. First, a comprehensive survey of the DER, power electronics components and their control, electric vehicles (EVs) as load components, and communication and cybersecurity issues are carried out. Second, the role played by AI-based analytics, IoT components along with energy internet architecture, and the BC assistance in improving SG services are thoroughly discussed. This study revealed that AI, IoT, and BC provide automated services to peers by monitoring real-time information about the ESN, thereby enhancing reliability, availability, resilience, stability, security, and sustainability.
Nov 1, 2020·2020 International Conferences on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData) and IEEE Congress on Cybermatics (Cybermatics)
Peer-to-peer energy trading among microgrids has many advantages, e.g., increasing the utilization of renewable energies, reducing the dependence on the main grid and reducing energy cost. In this paper, we investigate a peer-to-peer energy trading problem among microgrids under uncertainties. To be specific, each microgrid intends to maximize its own utility in a local peer-to-peer energy market. Due to the existence of uncertainties in renewable energy output and power demand of all microgrids, and temporally-coupled constraints related to energy storage devices, it is very challenging to develop an optimal energy trading policy for each microgrid. To achieve the above aim, we propose a multiagent deep deterministic policy gradient (MADDPG)-based energy trading algorithm, which can help to find the optimal policy for each microgrid without requiring the generation and load information of other microgrids. Moreover, blockchain is adopted to guarantee the integrity of energy transaction data. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in the aspect of reducing energy cost and ensuring the security of transaction data.
Di Huang, Chenyu Zhang, Qiang Li, Huachun Han · 7 authors
As a new data structure, blockchain has the characteristics of decentralization, high security and information disclosure, which integrates and innovates a variety of computer technologies. Virtual power plant (VPP) is able to increase the operational flexibility of the energy resources and plays an important role in the aggregation of distributed generation resources. For the problem of scheduling difficulty and low transaction efficiency of VPP, this paper proposes a VPP transaction mechanism based on blockchain, which considers the stability on matching supply and demand and priority of renewables. The consortium blockchain is used to allow qualified users to participate in the energy transaction. A market trading platform for VPP based on peer-to-peer (P2P) network in the environment of Ethereum is designed. The incentive mechanism is added to improve the transaction efficiency and the transaction process of VPPis simulated. It shows that the blockchain-based VPP trading mechanism has excellent economy and traceability.
This paper mainly proposes an intelligent transaction strategy of energy blockchain, aiming to safeguard the transmission of energy flow and information flow between users. Considering the diversity of power users, the power sellers were divided into reliable supply type (RST), low consumption type (LCT), environmental-friendly type (EFT), and affordable price type (APT), while power buyers were split into peak shifting type (PST) and stable demand type (SDT). Then, the comprehensive evaluation value (CEV) was calculated for each type of subjects. On this basis, the transaction strategy was optimized with the goal of maximizing the matching satisfaction of the two sides of the transaction. After that, the blockchain technology was introduced to the power matching decision-making process. The power transactions were made transparent and secure by the smart contract and consensus mechanism. Example analysis shows that our method improves the proportion of clean energies in power market, and ensures the stable supply, cost effectiveness, resource saving, and environmental-friendliness of the energy market.