Blockchain application in P2P energy markets: social and legal aspects

Abstract

Flexible and distributed energy markets are a reality that is progressively reaching many regions. Despite their clear benefits, they should be accepted by the prosumers. Additionally, blockchain technology and smart contracts have been characterised as a technological enabler for the energy sector and P2P Energy Markets (PEM). However, little research has been done to explore blockchain's user-centred perspective. Therefore, this paper analyses the reluctance and/or concerns of prosumers regarding smart contracts, and investigates their perception on blockchain within PEMs. The authors present the results of a survey conducted across several European countries addressing the implementation of automated trading systems and analysing the adoption of smart contracts. Considering that the main survey outcomes are related to the regulation and legislation uncertainty around blockchain usage, this paper explores also the fit of smart contracts from a legal perspective. Additionally, a set of recommendations to be used as the basis for the design and development of PEMs is delivered, aiming to adopt blockchain and smart contracts. As a key take-away, the authors confirm the crucial role that blockchain will play in the deployment of fair, secure, flexible and distributed energy markets by ensuring transparency in the exchange of information between prosumers and energy stakeholders.

Keywords:

• Blockchain
• smart contract
• P2P energy market
• social acceptance
• legal aspect

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by PARITY European project and the authors would like to thank all partners that have contributed to the work package on “Local Flexibility Business and Market Models”. Cruz E. Borges was involved in Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – Review & Editing Evgenia Kapassa was involved in Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft, Writing –Review & Editing. Marios Touloupou was involved in Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – Original Draft. Jon Legarda Macón was involved in Conceptualization, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Writing – Review & Editing Diego Casado-Mansilla was involved in Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Writing – Review & Editing.

Data availability

Datasets related to this article can be found at https://zenodo.org/record/4558724, an open access online repository hosted at Zenodo.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://gridplus.io

2 https://www.powerledger.io

3 https://lo3energy.com

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by PARITY project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation [grant agreement number 864319].