Energy Demand Side Management within micro-grid networks enhanced by blockchain

The management of energy supply and demand is becoming more challenging, especially in regions where the demand continues to grow rapidly and more intermittent renewable supply sources are added to the energy infrastructure. In this context, Demand Side Management (DSM) can be employed to align supply and demand and improve reliability of the system under supply constraints and stretch the capacity limits of the existing grid infrastructure. A game theoretic approach for a DSM model incorporating storage components is suggested in this paper especially for environments with energy supply constraints. The proposed model is able to not only reduce the Peak-to-Average ratio to benefit the electrical grid, but can also smoothen the dips in the load profile caused by supply constraints. In a case study to demonstrate the value of the model presented, a variety of residential demand types are evaluated within a micro-grid to maximize the payoff utility of both individual users and the whole system. Moreover, emerging blockchain technologies are introduced to guarantee the seamless and secure implementation of the proposed scheme, illustrating how a decentralized demand side management approach could be implemented in practice to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions following optimized demand profiles.