Abstract
Since the advent of the microgrid (MG) concept, almost two decades ago, the energy sector has evolved from a centralized operational approach to a distributed generation paradigm challenged by the increasing number of distributed energy resources (DERs) mainly based on renewable energy. This has encouraged new business models and management strategies looking for a balance between energy generation and consumption, and promoting an efficient utilization of energy resources within MGs and minimizing costs for the market participants. In this context, this paper introduces an efficient management strategy, which is aimed at obtaining a fair division of costs billed by the utilities, without relying on a centralized utility or MG aggregator, through the design of a local event-based energy market within the MG. This event-driven MG energy market operates with blockchain (BC) technology based on smart contracts for electricity transactions to both guarantee veracity and immutability of the data and automate the transactions. The event-based energy market approach focuses on two of the design limitations of BC, namely the amount of information to be stored and the computational burden, which are significantly reduced while maintaining a high level of performance. Furthermore, the prosumer data is obtained by using IEC 61850 standard-based commands within the BC framework. By doing so, the system is compatible with any device irrespective of the manufacturer implementing the IEC 61850 standard. The advantages of this management approach are considerable for: MG participants, in terms of financial benefits; the MG itself, as it can operate more independently from the main grid; and the grid since the MG becomes less unpredictable due to the internal energy exchanges. The proposed strategy is validated on an experimental setup employing low-cost devices.
Highlights
In recent years, the rapid expansion of Distributed EnergyResources (DERs), mainly based on renewable energy sources, has transformed the electrical power system resulting in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs, and mitigating adverse impacts on the power system such as overload on the main grid and transmission loss [1].Increasing deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) which include some intelligence has changed the role traditional consumers play in the electrical power system, leading to a new actor that consumes and produces electricity and maybe has demand response capabilities by means of some controllable loads and storage units [2]
This new actor in the electricity market is known as a prosumer that can be an energy provider or a consumer according to its local energy balance
The MG is connected to the main grid at a single point, through a point of common coupling, where the amount of energy is measured by bidirectional smart meters
Summary
The rapid expansion of Distributed EnergyResources (DERs), mainly based on renewable energy sources, has transformed the electrical power system resulting in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs, and mitigating adverse impacts on the power system such as overload on the main grid and transmission loss [1].Increasing deployment of DERs which include some intelligence has changed the role traditional consumers play in the electrical power system, leading to a new actor that consumes and produces electricity and maybe has demand response capabilities by means of some controllable loads and storage units [2]. MGs facilitate the integration of DERs, without compromising the resilience of the main grid, creating opportunities for new economic models such as electricity trading, which can take place between MGs and utilities, and among multiple prosumers, through a local energy market. They promote the development of control systems that allow plug & play capabilities to face the ever-changing MG architecture
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