Towards a Hybrid Multi-Layer Blockchain-Based Energy Trading Market for Microgrids

Energy trading is currently transitioning from traditional centralized markets to decentralized peer to peer (P2P) solutions. More and more P2P projects are operating with the Blockchain technology, hosting e-auctions for prosumers who are part of microgrids and operating in the same network. This way of energy trading might be ideal for trading types of renewable energy with high predictability but the same does not apply for lower predictability types, such as solar energy. A critical issue of P2P energy trading markets, that operate only in the context of local energy communities, is the availability of resources when every prosumer adapts the same role in the market, thus leading to either large excess or deficit of energy. This paper introduces a blockchain-based semi-decentralized (hybrid) energy trading market that consists of more than one microgrids and each microgrid is composed of prosumers who produce and trade energy with others within their microgrid. Furthermore, inter-microgrid energy trading can be initiated, as well as trading with the main grid, when there are unmet energy requests. In order to ensure safety and security between untrusted parties, transactions happen in a permissioned blockchain network. As an alternative way to trade energy this solution proposes along with the Fungible Tokens, the use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) that enclose amounts of energy to be used when needed. Each microgrid is equipped with an appropriately sized battery, a repository to maintain profits, and is coordinated by an administration manager, who is responsible for transactions happening outside of the microgrid.