Energy Trading on a Peer-to-Peer Basis Between Virtual Power Plants Using Decentralized Finance Instruments

Abstract

Over time, distribution systems have begun to include increased distributed energy resources (DERs) due to the advancement of auxiliary power electronics, information and communication technologies (ICT), and cost reductions. Electric vehicles (EVs) will undoubtedly join the energy community alongside DERs, and energy transfers from vehicles to grids and vice versa will become more extensive in the future. Virtual power plants (VPPs) will also play a key role in integrating these systems and participating in wholesale markets. Energy trading on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis is a promising business model for transactive energy that aids in balancing local supply and demand. Moreover, a market scheme between VPPs can help DER owners make more profit while reducing renewable energy waste. For this purpose, an inter-VPP P2P trading scheme is proposed. The scheme utilizes cutting-edge technologies of the Avalanche blockchain platform, developed from scratch with decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized applications (DApps), and Web3 workflows in mind. Avalanche is more scalable and has faster transaction finality than its layer-1 predecessors. It provides interoperability abilities among other common blockchain networks, facilitating inter-VPP P2P trading between different blockchain-based VPPs. The merits of DeFi contribute significantly to the workflow in this type of energy trading scenario, as the price mechanism can be determined using open market-like instruments. A detailed case study was used to examine the effectiveness of the proposed scheme and flow, and important conclusions were drawn.