Blockchain-based Decentralized Hybrid P2P Energy Trading

Abstract

With increasing local energy generation consumers are converting into prosumers by selling their excess generation with their peers. This transaction of locally generated energy is called Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading. For P2P energy trading, a community system is widely endorsed but causes an increase in overall system cost as both prosumer and consumer need to pay charges to the community manager. In this context, a hybrid P2P energy trading market is implemented through a decentralized blockchain-based mechanism. It permits market participants to trade energy directly without involving an additional entity. Contracts play a crucial role in blockchain-based energy trading mechanisms. Thus, smart contracts are designed for the efficient implementation of this trading mechanism. These contracts are designed using the Solidity platform on REMIX IDE. Prosumer and consumer interact among themselves through the main smart contract to execute P2P energy trading till market-clearing time. Afterwards, they interact with the grid through Peer-to-Grid (P2G) smart contracts for additional sell/purchase of energy. Results show that the proposed approach leads to a smart, secure and economical mechanism of energy trading.