Distributed Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading in Virtual Microgrids: A
Blockchain Survey for Future Smart Grid
Sami Saeed Binyamin 1 and Sami Ben Slama2,*
1 The Applied College, King Abdulaziz University,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; ssbinyamin@kau.edu.sa
2 The Applied College, King Abdulaziz University,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; sabdullah1@kau.edu.sa
* Correspondence:
sabdullah1@kau.edu.sa;
Funding Information: The Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR)
at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has funded this
project under grant no. G: 109-156-1443.
Abstract: Due to the apparent demands and constraints faced by
energy systems operating in the market world, the Prosumer Energy trade
strategy was selected as a potential opportunity for research and
industries. Energy trading has expanded due to the availability of
dispersed energy sources and power users who produce more electricity
than they would otherwise and can profitably export their excess fuel.
The energy trading system blends energy from various sources and
effectively coordinates it to ensure stable and optimal usage of
available resources and better facilities for energy users. Peer-to-peer
(P2P) energy trading is a joint research topic that involves various
managerial and technical challenges. This paper provides an overview of
peer-to-peer energy exchange and how blockchain can be used to increase
transparency and overall performance, including the degree of
decentralization, scalability, and device reliability. A thorough
examination of the Prosumer Smart Grid environment is explored and
clarified. The energy sharing mechanism among consumers comprises two
major components: information/digital technology and optimization
techniques. Three blockchain-based energy sharing models have been
proposed to overcome technical and market barriers to adopt this
revolutionary technology. The paper further discusses open topics and
possible future paths for peer-to-peer blockchain-based energy sharing.
Keywords: Smart Grid; Prosumer; Peer-to-peer; Blockchain;
Energy Trade
1. Introduction
Nowadays, smart grids (SGs) have been considered promising research
issues because of their efficiency in addressing previous networks’
devastating problems and complications. SG technologies significantly
improve energy demand by involving small networks and distributed energy
resources. Existing infrastructure stakeholders are attracted to the
rapid growth in electricity use and transparent infrastructure [1].
SGs have also been chosen as powerful self-processing technologies that
allow the transfer of electricity and innovation technologies in the
same ways. Various forms of energy consumption that use resources,
management, transfer and exchange with others have been created quickly
and effectively [2]. This new concept of energy consumption is
classified as ”Prosumer”. Due to the flexibility and energy conservation
in the distribution phase of electricity, a great interest of customers
is observed in smart grid sharing [3]. In this vein, the Prosumer
will have a crucial role in emerging SGs, organizing peak periods,
energy consumption, and rationalization [4]. Therefore, it is
expected that Energy Management Systems (EMSs) and Internet of Things
(IoT) systems will be incorporated into identifying and analyzing
related problems and implementing and testing the impact of the prosumer
requirements on potential SGs. These latter have prompted the Power
Service Provider (PSP) to improve power lines in providing advanced
technologies and applications for developing consumer relationships and
responding to Prosumer requirements and the energy leasing method
[5]. This approach has encouraged PSP to establish modern, scalable
computing systems, decentralized structures and statistical techniques.
The latter aims to efficiently manage services, engage stakeholders and
promote progress in business strategy [6]. As a result, the PSP
provided and secured a power line to customers rather than leasing power
lines [7].
In Reference [8], the authors demonstrated that SG was also
certified and chosen as a solution that includes fuels, knowledge,
communications, commercial areas, and various applications to obtain
scientific, economic, and legal priorities. According to digitization,
convergence with SG technologies, interoperability, and new
specifications has become increasingly necessary for
Small-to-Medium-Enterprises (SMEs). The traditional network has evolved
with innovative technology and intelligent applications. Consequently,
the global energy infrastructure has become more diversified, resulting
in digital communications among all stakeholders, such as industries and
Prosumer [9].
The work presented in [10] identifies how most technologies should
be seamlessly and independently, fully compatible with PSP and
companies, with the inclusion of the IoT as a potential solution. The
emerging potential solution included a wide range of technologies,
including smart housing, artificial manufacturing, smart cities,
advanced agriculture, the intelligence industry (also known as
industries 4.0), SG, etc. It can be emphasized that the IoT has become
an important pillar of SG due to its flexibility in connecting the Grid,
network and applications with uniquely defined entities and the ability
to share information on a system without interacting with devices or
equipment or human and computer [11]. So, the specific
qualifications and features of edge technologies, Prosumer and smart
applications are important because they will determine in the future,
classifications of applications, tools, and techniques applied within
smart homes, Internet infrastructure, web and computer services, and
infrastructure [12]. In Reference [13], the authors have shown
that the IoT will restructure our ideas about societies worldwide.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), attempting to create
Smart Grid technology that improves and replaces existing systems is
driving people and communities to smart infrastructure innovations
(according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)). SG is one of the
pillars of creating a stable, safer and productive economy. The latter
will allow the management and resolution of all kinds of problems
related to lighting, traffic lights, pollution, parking lots, street
alarms, and early detection of excessive resources, emergency weather,
and energy storage. Also, SG does the same with infrastructure in power
lines, smart meters, consoles, post-station systems, switches, sensors,
applications and more [14]. Due to the diversity of advanced
technologies, SG has become less expensive than the current electricity
grid. Switching to SG requires electricity from a variety of sources,
which are distributed frequently [15]. The advanced development of
the network will include conventional power plants, solar and wind
energy sources, plug-ins, and energy storage facilities. It can
significantly reduce energy consumption and costs by using and
maintaining data. For example, in [16], the authors showed that
smart lighting is designed and automatically tracked around different
areas, where adjusted to meet daylight or traffic requirements and
quickly determines energy demand. In [17], the authors have shown
that consumers can adjust the home temperatures and the air
conditioners, depending on customer requirements, during all periods of
work or holidays. Indeed, the authors report that SG with IoT is
designed to reduce costs by tracking smart energy and switching the
source when power outages are detected. In [18], the authors
suggested that numerous reports prove that IoT growth will promote the
US energy sector to integrate an edge of renewable facilities to improve
functionalities of both wind power generation, micro-grid networks and
feeding structures. In [19], the authors showed that IoT-SGs would
help the transportation and parking station sectors communicate and
collect real-time information from drivers and authorities using
advanced sensors. This vision would effectively reduce road congestion,
develop traffic options, report pedestrians on street collisions,
improve traffic solutions, track street collisions among pedestrians,
damage the urban environment and encourage road charges and park meter
automatically. Furthermore, autonomous vehicles can work wirelessly
through the Internet of Things technology. The authors reported in
[20] that innovative IoT technologies could ensure waste and water
management and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It may also include
monitoring of products in real-time and loss management results. In
[21], the authors show that IoT technologies and big data are
included to collect and monitor water movement and temperature details
and help users manage energy demand, regulate energy consumption and
reduce waste. To achieve these goals, timer and infrastructure are
included. In [22], the authors stated that IoT would be used to
supply electricity to areas with low population density by allowing the
transition to integrated networks linking national or regional
infrastructure. These networks are necessary to implement modern energy
technologies by continuing to use the latest technologies. In [23],
the authors suggested that IoT was chosen as the best solution for smart
cities and SGs. Indeed, this latter will report the problems in the
region in real-time. For example, in Mannheim, Germany, several SG
applications were introduced and implemented using IoT. With this
initiative, green resources were implemented on a large scale, and
energy use was planned and developed in Mannheim cities [24]. In
Mannheim cities, Schneider Electric Company offers a variety of wired
solar power systems for families. This will allow the family to have PV
systems, control and maintenance equipment so that the entire network is
exhausted or until solar energy is produced and converted to meet
household energy demand during peak periods [25].
In [26], the authors stated that the Lumin Energy Project (LEP) was
chosen as an attractive and innovative project. LEP included IoT
technologies, which saved costs and emissions while promoting clean
energy. This project provides an efficient program for solar panels with
adaptive storage units. In [27], the authors emphasized that many
technologies have been discovered to facilitate the decentralization of
correspondence, data storage, and delivery in recent years with all of
these approximate activities. This phenomenon is strengthening research
and industries to present the Edge computing model as a potential
solution. Edge computing will be included in the grid for computing.
This will ensure that storage and networks are linked to the database
and data centers in the cloud. In [28], the authors argue that edge
computing will be involved in the future to increase reaction times,
reduce energy prices, increase interactions, scalability, and
confidentiality. In [29], Edge Computing has been incorporated to
help heterogeneous IoT systems communicate through specific network
topology, different devices (sensors, cars, machines, computers,
metering computers, etc.). In [30], the authors suggest that several
disciplines will benefit from IoT smart grid solutions such as Business
4.0, Energy Management and Prosumers, and will support many academics
and industries. The heterogeneous data collected and generated by IoT
devices can be used to provide advanced computing technology solutions
for infrastructure according to the three-tier computing infrastructure
(IoT-Sensors, Cloud-Services and Edge Nodes) [31]. With Edge
Computing, IoT platforms allow gathering information from hundreds or
even thousands of data sets and helping companies determine whether or
not they will work. Anticipate how cultural changes need to recognize
the adoption of emerging technology. This will prompt many observers to
plan the electricity grid, especially given the green hybrid electric
vehicles [32]. In [33], the authors showed that SG responds to
potential electricity consumption problems by combining wireless
detection systems and cloud computing.
Moreover, data protection concerns raise significant issues in entering
study groups while using and disseminating electrical data. To enhance
the pillars of SG, a blockchain platform is included. Blockchain
infrastructure will be provided with accurate strategies to oversee data
exchange between customers and SGs [34].
In this review paper, we make the following contributions:
- We survey and classify the advantages of the benefits smart grid
Prosumers concepts.
- We discuss Smart Grid Energy Management and Optimization algorithms
- We discuss Energy Tade/Prosumer Classifications and prosumer types and
models.
- We provide a detailed survey of Prosumer Energy Management Techniques.
- Three decentralized energy exchange frameworks proposed in this paper
make the infrastructure use of blockchain.
- We outline open issues, challenges, and future research directions
related to Blockchain smart grid.
A list of acronyms used throughout the paper is presented in Appendix A
(Table A1).
The remaining part of the survey is organized as follows: Section 1
introduces the edge computing and IoT concepts. In “Preliminaries:
Detailed Analysis of the Literature” Section 2, we will provide a state
of the art of essential studies that addressed various challenges and
issues in Prosumer SG and energy prosumer, and Prosumer classifications.
The “Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading” Section 3 discusses the peer-to-peer
energy trading concept, architecture, and techniques. In “Blockchain
Technology in SG” Section 4, we discuss the Blockchain architecture,
the information processing in Prosumer SG, the concept, model, and the
future energy management systems. In Section 5, we provide open issues
and Future directions. We conclude the survey paper in Section 6.
2. Preliminaries: Detailed Analysis of the Literature
2.1 Summary of SG Prosumer/Energy Trade
This sub-section describes the overall distribution structure of the
hierarchical Prosumer-Smart Grid given by Figure 1. The presented
hierarchical scheme explains the relationship between appliances,
intelligent applications, cloud and Edge Calculation based Prosumers.
IoT applications on the edge of the network tend to produce an enormous
amount of data that can be calculated in data centers, limiting access
to service requirements. Additionally, edge-based devices continuously
use data in the cloud to enforce Prosumer to create data centers, unify
access and deliver data. Edge aims to transfer data collected from data
centers to the platform’s advantages using smart devices,
Fifth-generation wireless (5G) or network gateways to perform tasks and
provide cloud solutions.
Figure 1. Overall structure of a distribution Prosumer-smart Grid system
SGs are a set of tools for power consumption, control, software, grid
technology installations deployed in homes, businesses, and the entire
electric power grid. In this vein, SG innovations can be described as
stand-alone structures that can efficiently address challenges in the
electricity grid and ensure that all customers can access reliable
electricity. SG will be the successor to the previous conventional
networks by providing cleaner, more energy-efficient, more stable and
sustainable electrical supplies [35]. Given the complexity of the
Grid, service providers for the smart grid will assume that they are
involved in the creation of the technological, financial, and
operational approaches that help in the development of the SG
infrastructure [36]. To improve electricity consumption, SG includes
a new infrastructure. To enhance performance, continuous sensing and
power rating can be achieved through advanced classifications that allow
the properties to be deployed with greater loads [37]. In [38],
the authors suggested that to prevent problems related to production,
energy demand and proper handling of consumers, and it is necessary to
change the traditional techniques and methods. The active service should
be improved based on some detected standards and problems. The authors
emphasized in [39] that the operating output is increased by
choosing the lowest-cost supply unit with system controls. Also, SG
assists consumers in controlling demand trends and ensuring flexibility
by adjusting energy consumption and purchasing process. This trend will
encourage customer interest in energy revenue, purchase and sale. SG was
also chosen as an attractive modern technology due to its ability to
provide current knowledge about energy consumption, different service
methods and benefits. In [40], the authors show that SG includes
large and distributed power plants and helps increase a variety of
domestic energy services to customers by combining wind, heat,
electricity, and carbon efficiency. Whereas, in [41], the authors
have shown that SG generates energy at different levels (and prices),
and customers can choose from competing bidders in a well-designed and
managed market.
Thus, markets may play an efficient role in managing these variables.
Regulators, creditors and consumers have the right to change the
corporate law according to operating and economic conditions. For this
reason, electricity, power, location, times, levels, and performance are
some of the various network stats for real-time monitoring and
supervision. The electricity purchase was considered among the Pillars
and goals of modern SGs. In [42], the authors were proven the
previous consideration related to electricity purchasing. This proof is
based on an advanced infrastructure that will provide an integrated
policy and customer service. This infrastructure allows monitoring of
light, faults, artificial sources, and energy demand.
Future smart grids pose some challenges for a variety of energy demand
and decentralized production. The role of consumers and producers can be
managed simultaneously by the SG-end-users (so-called ”Prosumers ”). In
future network service, prosumers are seen as an attractive solution for
resolving many obstacles and challenges faced by SGs [43]. In
[44], the authors suggested that the Prosumer Groups (ProG) strive
to transform traditional customers into productive consumers, improve SG
performance, and deliver an economical, logistical, and sustainable
advantage. The authors in [45] have reported that the prosumers aim
to generate and consume energy and possibly start sharing and spreading
the extra power to other customers in the distribution system using edge
technologies. To maximize the use of the edge technology, procedures,
business models, and growth incentives, it is vital to understand the
roles and priorities of consumers in the early stages of smart grid
deployment [46]. In [47], the Prosumer SG functions and
characteristics are chosen based on pre-creation energy consumption
strategies. In [48], the authors demonstrated that the Prosumer SG
functions and features are determined based on the pre-creation energy
consumption strategies. These functions are the ”engineer” who supports
emerging technology and creativity, the ”Green Prosumer,” interested in
innovative approaches for environmental purposes and the ”value seeker,”
involved in economic benefits and Prosumer efficiency, consistency. Edge
Computing Technology has been included as an attractive technology to
acquire Prosumer goals. This latter is intended to improve privacy and
data protection, enhanced operating output, improved market quality,
stability, network management and infrastructure handling, low response
time, data dissemination, more robust device performance and lower
operating costs [49].
2.2 SG Emerging Issues
Given all the advances, methods, and techniques incorporated in the SGs,
this emerging technology also poses a variety of important issues.
Critical interests in SG can be generally defined as a technology
essential for smart grid security (hardware, software, infrastructure,
utilities, networks, sensors, and devices). In this context, this
subsection seeks to reveal the main critical issues emerging in
communications and information technology, sensors, estimation,
automation system technology, electrical and electronic devices and
energy storage systems used in SGs. The SG emerging issues as given as
follow:
- Emerging issues in power electronics and energy storage technologies:
Electronic control systems introduce harmonic distortion into the grid
and making voltage distortion issues [50]. Indeed, the widespread
use of electronic control interfaces (such as flexible AC transmission
and high voltage DC installations) will be required to create smart
electric power grids [51].
- Emerging issues emerging in automation sensing technologies: Smart
Meter is an attractive automated energy system which indicates in real
time, with two-way access and remote terminal units/interruption,
energy consumption, price information and dynamic prices [52]. All
components and devices in the smart meter system require additional
identification numbers, which makes it more difficult to integrate new
devices, appliances, sensors, etc. with an increasing number of
customers [53].
- Emerging issues in communication technologies: Smart grid
communication systems need smart meters and edge sensors to
communicate between appliances and the database. Smart meters include
a modular, interoperable, reliable, scalable and efficient two-way
communication backbone that requires duration and frequency [154].
The transmission and storage of information should be protected to
prevent cyber-attacks [155].
The Smart Grid is an advanced and asynchronous digital power
transmission system that consists of forecasting multiple complications,
self-healing, adaptability, adaptation, and sustainable development. SG
seems to grow, energy companies are gaining dynamism through smart
meters. Switching to smart grids will change power generation systems
that will encourage
Prosumers, and enhance the psychological and social changes of employees
that make educated and energy-related life decisions. In this regard,
the effectiveness of Prosumers in adopting the smart grid has been
addressed in evaluation reports and studies. There are in fact a few
methodological statistics related to the variables involved in general
interests relative to the number of articles on business and innovation
category studies. Some of the results of previous studies support and
oppose the theory that clients value rewards. It provides some general
guidelines for stimulating many approaches. Due to the large diversity
of power grids in smart grid projects, the results are distributed
entirely on the actual topic. The studies are based on social, economic,
and cultural concepts that have monopolized generations of energy users
achieving a smart grid is an urgent and important goal. The goal of this
investment is to achieve positive growth and incorporate green energy,
among many other aspects, that consumers are always concerned about. The
literature explored the role of current technology in brand awareness.
With regard to energy management and the sustainable use of consumer
energy, the use of edge computing IoT architecture should maintain
motivation as part of energy transfer. Prosumer’s SG will encourage
everyone to improve their strategic goals or gain a certain level of
independence while enabling the smart grid with the ability to further
reduce costs as appropriate. Fully automated economic or automated
approaches certainly, demand management or extensive deployment of SG
devices will have stability and logistical performance, which is
essential. The biggest challenge for developing smart grid projects is
the failure of integrative standards for the residential sector where
there are enormous complications and where there is no similar goal,
habits of prosperity and demand, requirements, priorities, and local
regulations. Indeed, the adoption of advanced technologies lies in the
incorporation of the Edge computing IoT and Blockchain is necessary to
control the Prosumers. On the other hand, we provide a brief summary of
our survey paper that is based on different interests: concepts,
applications, field survey and theory. Table 1 shows and summarizes the
different level of use in each interest and area. This issue has the
potential to cause prosumers to become disconnected and isolated. This
isolation may result in erratic pricing in different locations. Even the
model is effective for local markets with fewer participants of the
scheme and the need for global outstretch.
Table 1. Comparison of existing survey papers