Skip to main content

Decentralized Energy Networks Based on Blockchain: Background, Overview and Concept Discussion

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Business Information Systems Workshops (BIS 2018)

Abstract

This paper provides a snapshot of the globally ongoing decentralization of (business) relations in the energy sector. This tendency can be observed in other domains as well and is accompanied by new digital technological developments. Blockchain technology is assigned disruptive potential when it comes to realize those decentralization ideas. This hype about Blockchain is mainly company-driven without a solid academic basis yet. The authors are currently involved in several research efforts for utilizing distributed energy resources like photovoltaic systems, batteries and electric cars for the setup of energy communities and marketplaces. The paper, therefore, presents detailed investigations of background and motivations for decentralization and the building of (local) energy communities and (peer-to-peer) marketplaces for sustainable utilization of renewable energies. An overview of recent related Blockchain-based works is presented, and the current state and feasibility for the realization of the envisioned decentralized solutions are discussed. In this way, the work aimed at contributing to a research-based decision foundation for upcoming Blockchain-based decentralization efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Nakamoto, S.: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  2. European Commission - The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/771918e8-d3ee-11e7-a5b9-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-51344538

  3. EC - Clean Energy For All Europeans (2016). https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/COM-2016-860-F1-EN-MAIN.PDF

  4. EC - Clean Energy For All Europeans – ANNEX 1. (2016). https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/1_en_annexe_autre_acte_part1_v9.pdf

  5. EC - Clean Energy For All Europeans – ANNEX 2 (2016). https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/COM-2016-860-F1-EN-ANNEX-2-PART-1.PDF

  6. Sonnenbatterie. https://sonnenbatterie.de/de-at/sonnencommunity

  7. ZuHausestrom. https://zuhause.enbw.com/solarenergie

  8. Bündnis Bürgerenergie BBEn e.V. https://www.buendnis-buergerenergie.de/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/Bericht_2017/Broschuere_Buergerenergie17_96dpi.pdf

  9. Innovation lab act4energy. https://nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/sdz/projects/enics.php

  10. Komendantova, N.: Energy transition in the Austrian climate and energy model regions: a multi-risk participatory governance perspective on regional resilience. Procedia Eng. 212, 15–21 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2018.01.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Albadi, M.H., El-Saadany, E.F.: A summary of demand response in electricity markets. Electric Power Syst. Res. 78(11), 1989–1996 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsr.2008.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Conejo, A.J., Morales, J.M., Baringo, L.: Real-time demand response model. IEEE Trans. Smart Grid 1(3), 236–242 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ruiz, N., Cobelo, I., Oyarzabal, J.: A direct load control model for virtual power plant management. IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 24(2), 959–966 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Triki, C., Violi, A.: Dynamic pricing of electricity in retail markets. 4OR 7(1), 21–36 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Xu, Y., Li, N., Low, S.H.: Demand response with capacity constrained supply function bidding. IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 31(2), 1377–1394 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chen, C., Wang, J., Kishore, S.: A distributed direct load control approach for large-scale residential demand response. IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 29(5), 2219–2228 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Nguyen, H.K., Song, J.B., Han, Z.: Distributed demand side management with energy storage in smart grid. IEEE Trans. Parallel Distr. Syst. 26(12), 3346–3357 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Li, N., Chen, L., Dahleh, M.A.: Demand response using linear supply function bidding. IEEE Trans. Smart Grid 6(4), 1827–1838 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wagner, M., Kuba, M., Oeder, A.: Smart grid cyber security: a german perspective. In: 2012 International Conference on Smart Grid Technology, Economics and Policies (SG-TEP), pp. 1–4, Nuremberg (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Liang, G., Weller, S.R., Zhao, J., Luo, F., Dong, Z.Y.: The 2015 Ukraine Blackout: Implications for False Data Injection Attacks. IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 32(4), 3317–3318 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Tang, Y., Chen, Q., Li, M., Wang, Q., Ni, M., Fu, X.Y.: Challenge and evolution of cyber attacks in cyber physical power system. In: 2016 IEEE PES Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference (APPEEC), pp. 857–862, Xi’an (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  22. European Parliament and Council: Regulation on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (Data Protection Directive), L119, 4/5/2016, pp. 1–88 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Sheffer, Y., et al.: Recommendations for Secure Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) (No. RFC 7525). Internet Engineering Task Force. Internet Requests for Comments (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Schwerin, S.: Blockchain and privacy protection in the case of the european general data protection regulation (GDPR): a delphi study. JBBA 1(1), 1–75 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Dorri, A., Kanhere, S.S., Jurdak, R., Gauravaram, P.: Blockchain for IoT security and privacy: the case study of a smart home. In: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops (PerCom Workshops), pp. 618–623, Kona, HI (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Yli-Huumo, J., Ko, D., Choi, S., Park, S., Smolander, K.: Where is current research on blockchain technology? a systematic review. PLoS ONE 11(10), e0163477 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Goranović, A., Meisel, M., Fotiadis, L., Wilker, S., Treytl, A., Sauter, T.: Blockchain applications in microgrids: an overview of current projects and concepts. 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE IES, IECON 2017, pp. 6153–6158, Beijing (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Donnerer, D., Lacassagne, S.: Blockchain and Energy Transition: What challenges for cities? Energy Cities, Licence Creative Commons Attribution (2018). http://www.energy-cities.eu/IMG/pdf/energy-cities-blockchain-study_2018_en.pdf

  29. First Ever Blockchain Energy Trade Completed in the UK. http://bitcoinist.com/first-ever-blockchain-energy-trade-completed-uk/

  30. WePower WP. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_OW_EddXO5RWWFVQjJGZXpQT3c

  31. Hive Power WP. https://c.fastcdn.co/u/a25ac79a/29853262-0-Hive-Power-WP-1.3.pdf

  32. Pylon Network Whitepaper. https://pylon-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/170730_WP-PYLON_EN.pdf

  33. Tal.Markt. https://wsw-talmarkt.de/#/frequently-asked-questions

  34. Inuk. https://www.inuk.co/howdoesitwork

  35. Sunchain. http://www.sunchain.fr/english-1

  36. Restart Energy Whitepaper. https://restartenergy.io/Restart_Energy_Whitepaper.pdf

  37. Enosi Whitepaper. https://enosi.io/images/file/whitepaper_24_04_18.pdf

  38. SunContract Whitepaper. https://suncontract.org/tokensale/res/whitepaper.pdf

  39. Green Power Exchange Whitepaper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qvn7e9Q_NhURYM2-wkru6zP10P6L-w3x/view

  40. Energy Web Foundation – EW Origin. https://energyweb.org/origin/

  41. D3A Market Model. https://energyweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EWF-D3A-ConceptBrief-FINAL201804.pdf

  42. EnergiMine Whitepaper. https://energitoken.com/whitepaper/WPEnglish.pdf

  43. Blockchain im Block: Strom-Sharing im Wiener Viertel Zwei. https://derstandard.at/2000073939772/Blockchain-im-BlockStrom-Sharing-im-Viertel-Zwei

  44. Blockchain-Pilotprojekt gestartet. https://www.fh-salzburg.ac.at/en/about-us/news/news/details/article/blockchain-pilotprojekt-gestartet-1

  45. Moisl, F., Pichler, M., Chasparis, G., Leonhartsberger, K., Lettner, G.: Development of a decentralized small battery energy storage network to compensate for schedule deviations. In: D. Schulze (ed.), NEIS 2017: Conference on Sustainable Energy Supply and Energy Storage Systems, pp. 169–174, VDE Verlag, September (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Leonhartsberger, K., et al.: System relevant applications for battery storage systems. In Proceedings of the 33rd PLEA International Conference (PLEA 2017), vol. III, pp. 4595–4602, July (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Flex+ project. https://projekte.ffg.at/projekt/2926622

  48. Green Energy Lab. http://www.greenenergylab.at/

  49. Markey-Towler, B.: Anarchy, blockchain and utopia: a theory of political- socioeconomic systems organised using blockchain. The JBBA 1(1), 1–14 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Supper, S., Keding, M., Lettner, G., Schwab, T., Stricker, K.: Green Energy Lab: Accelerating User-centric Integrated Solutions for the Renewable Energy System of Tomorrow (2017). http://www.greenenergylab.at/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Green-Energy-Lab-Presentation-September-2017.pdf

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research reported in this paper has been supported by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, and the Province of Upper Austria in the frame of the COMET center SCCH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mario Pichler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Pichler, M. et al. (2019). Decentralized Energy Networks Based on Blockchain: Background, Overview and Concept Discussion. In: Abramowicz, W., Paschke, A. (eds) Business Information Systems Workshops. BIS 2018. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 339. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04849-5_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04849-5_22

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04848-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04849-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics