Design, implementation, and evaluation of a blockchain-based microgrid platform : enabling local peer-to-peer energy markets

In order to meet global emissions targets, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) will have to be exploited. The subsequent decentralisation of the electrical grid, caused in large parts by residential rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) systems, in turn presents a challenge to existing infrastructure, markets, and business models. Households which only consumed electric energy can now invest into a private PV system and produce their own electricity, thus becoming prosumers. During the day prosumers can generate more electric energy than they consume, requiring them to feed the extra energy back into the grid. The concept of Local Energy Markets (LEMs) encompasses the peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange of energy between prosumers and neighbouring consumers and represents a novel remuneration model for investors in residential PV. The progressing roll-out of smart meters and the subsequent availability of high-frequent energy data holds the opportunity to realise new control schemes and business models for the smart grid. However, billing is still based on regular readouts, which are often done by hand, and data available from deployed smart meters is commonly restrictive, and suffers from infrequent collection, reduced sampling intervals, and limited value range. Blockchain-technology has gained popularity as the underpinning mechanism that has enabled the pseudonymous and decentralised electronic cash system Bitcoin. The technology has spurred the development of a whole ecosystem of blockchain platforms, which, as of August 2019, hold a market capitalisation over USD 200 billion in total. Blockchain-technology enables untrusted or semi-trusted parties to engage in transactions carrying financial value and arbitrary data, which can replace mediating third parties. Combining LEMs and blockchain-technology allows prosumers and consumers to trade energy directly without having to go through the authority of a utility company. The exchange of local energy based on a blockchain system was first conducted by the Brooklyn Microgrid in April 2016. However, the novelty of blockchain-based LEMs requires assessment of their feasibility and their impact from a wide range of aspects. The deployment of real-world implementations of blockchain-based systems for LEMs within the scope of academic research that assesses technological, societal, and market aspects is still limited...