Privacy-Preserving Energy Trading Using Blockchain and Zero Knowledge Proof

Microgrid research and construction effectively use distributed energy resources to stimulate clean energy devel-opment. Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading in microgrids helps create a fully competitive and autonomous energy trading market. Blockchain technology is employed to realize a P2P energy trading framework. However, while public blockchain is generally transparent, energy trading information is sensitive and thus requires a privacy-preserving mechanism. In this paper, we design a privacy-preserving energy trading mechanism by using blockchain and zero-knowledge proofs. A user uploads a commitment to the blockchain instead of the original bid amount, and the zero-knowledge proof of commitment is uploaded into the blockchain. Other participants can verify the correctness of energy trading in each auction match. Our experiments show the design is feasible and efficient in Ethereum although there are more gas consumptions.