Energy Systems Meet with Blockchain Technology

In this chapter, the use of blockchain technology (BT) in the field of power systems and markets is discussed. Since BT has the potential to transform businesses in a disruptive manner, it is essential to explore the real potential of this emerging technology and initiate healthy discussions beyond the initial hype created around blockchain, fueled by its association with the initial use case of cryptocurrency. P2P energy trading, EV charging, and green energy certificate trading appear to be the most well-developed use cases currently. Even though the current generation of BT has great momentum, they still have some issues related to interoperability, scalability, and performance in terms of power consumption and transaction speeds/fees. In addition, regulatory authorities at regional, national, and international levels need to develop new and updated versions of regulatory frameworks to provide a better framework for the next-generation energy domain BT applications. In addition, standardization is still needed to simplify integrating BT applications and blockchain platforms from different companies.