Blockchain-enabled decentralized and hierarchical framework for peer-to-peer electric energy markets

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The integration of many distributed energy resources (DERs), like renewable energy sources, flexible loads, and energy storage, is driving revolutionary changes in electric distribution systems in Canada and worldwide. The distributed, uncertain, and small-scale nature of DERs presents many challenges to reliable and efficient grid operations, including fundamental principles of revenue generation within the utility value chain. At the same time, DERs equipped with computing and communication capabilities offer the opportunity, as never before, to establish local peer-to-peer (P2P) energy markets that incentivize DERs to offer their services for payment. This project will develop a proof-of-concept prototype software platform that enables P2P energy transactions aimed at efficient and reliable grid operations while ensuring customer privacy. The research will achieve this overarching objective by: (i) developing computationally efficient algorithms for P2P energy markets that scale with massive DER participation, and (ii) implementing P2P energy markets over distributed ledger (blockchain) technologies to enable trust, privacy, and interoperability. Our partner organization recognizes that existing market architectures are insufficient to support widespread deployment of communication-enabled DERs, and they look forward to extending our prototype into a production-grade commercial software that definitively expands blockchain applications to the energy sector. More generally, this project will bolster Canada's position in the worldwide trend toward massive DER integration and contribute to a credible path toward decarbonization.