Prosumer- und Nutzeranbindung im Verteilnetz mittels Blockchain

Blockchains are seen as a key technology in the area of digitized energy systems (e.g., PWC study, “Will Blockchain Revolutionize the Energy Sector”, 2016, in German, or Bloomberg, „Gridchain: will blockchain work in the energy sector?“, 2016). Regardless of the many advantages of this technology, it is necessary to assess it critically and systematically. In this project, such an assessment is conducted for the use of blockchain technology in the consumer domain.
Consumer integration is a field, where the evaluation of suitable areas of use for blockchain technology is essential, especially for user acceptance. Furthermore, due to the processing of personal customer data, the aspects of privacy and security play a vital role.
Project ProChain will evaluate the utility of blockchains as a technology for prosumer and user integration in the low voltage grid on the basis of concrete use cases (distribution of user shares for photovoltaics, optimization of local energy usage and electrical vehicle charging). General requirements for the use of blockchains in den consumer domain will be deduced, especially regarding economic utility, privacy, security, user interaction, data handling and suitable models for blockchain operations. The following three points will be focal:
1) Feasibility and suitability of different blockchain approaches (private, public, hybrid; consensus algorithms, smart contracts, etc.)
2) Requirements for privacy and security
3) Requirements for user acceptance and user interfacing
Based on the use cases, general conclusions and recommendations will be drawn. An integrated project concept will be created, which will develop methods and approaches for blockchain usage, based on the insights of the exploratory project (suitable blockchain approaches, privacy enhancing technologies, IT security, user acceptance and integration).
The exploratory project will make the following contributions:
• Systematic assessment of the use of blockchain technology in the end user domain based on concrete use cases
• Assessment of the implications of blockchain-based user integration for privacy and data security
• Investigation of possible methods to safeguard privacy for personal data
• Comparison and evaluation of different blockchain approaches (e.g., private, public, consortium; concepts for validation, different mechanisms to include business logic) and the possibility to combine them in a hybrid model
• Initial investigation of requirements for user acceptance and requirements for user interfacing