Blockchain in decentralized local energy markets

Abstract

Within the context of implementing decentralized energy markets, it is necessary to integrate existing structures into this process of change and let established participants play an active role in it. The problem of the conversion is the way how the current, and sometimes still rigid, accounting systems can be adjusted to a flexible and adaptable energy market. It should be noted that today’s ordinary consumer must have the ability to feed energy into the grid, thereby taking a prosumer role. This article describes a concept developed within the context of the WindNode project to address this problem. The concept includes an approach focused on billing processes to realize a decentralized energy market. Attention was paid to scalability, flexibility, business process modeling and security. The result describes an approach to how any participant can be integrated into such a network, whether as an ordinary consumer or as a prosumer.