Microgrid Transactive Energy: Review, Architectures, Distributed Ledger Technologies, and Market Analysis

TLDR

Microgrid transactive energy systems, enabled by prosumers, digitalization, distributed energy resources, demand response, and local energy markets, promise reduced transmission losses, lower infrastructure costs, improved reliability, greater local energy use, and lower consumer bills. This paper discusses transactive energy and proposes a seven‑layer functional architecture for designing such systems. The authors present a seven‑layer architecture, compare it with a Brooklyn microgrid case study, review existing architectures, detail distributed ledger technologies and their pros and cons, analyze local energy market concepts for intra‑system trade, and examine peer‑to‑peer and community‑based market potentials and challenges. The proposed architecture and analytical review of distributed ledger technologies and local energy markets pave the way for advanced research and industrialization of transactive energy systems.

Abstract

Prosumer concept and digitilization offer the exciting potential of microgrid transactive energy systems at distribution level for reducing transmission losses, decreasing electric infrastructure expenditure, improving reliability, enhancing local energy use, and minimizing customers' electricity bills. Distributed energy resources, demand response, distributed ledger technologies, and local energy markets are integral parts of transaction energy system for emergence of decentralized smart grid system. Hence, this paper discusses transactive energy concept and proposes seven functional layers architecture for designing transactive energy system. The proposed architecture is compared with practical case study of Brooklyn microgrid. Moreover, this paper reviews the existing architectures and explains the widely known distributed ledger technologies (blockchain, directed acyclic graph, hashgraph, holochain, and tempo) alongwith their advantages and challenges. The local energy market concept is presented and critically analyzed for energy trade within a transactive energy system. This paper also reviews the potential and challenges of peer-to-peer and community-based energy markets. Proposed architecture and analytical review of distributed ledger technologies and local energy markets pave the way for advanced research and industrialization of transactive energy systems.