Blockchain builds an energy security ecosystem: digitalization of processes in the energy industry chain, multi-dimensional grid connection, and multiple sharing

Source: Shanxi Daily

Editor's Note: The original title was "Seizing New Opportunities in Technology and Building an Energy Blockchain"

Author unit: Shanxi University of Finance and Economics Research Institute of Resource-based Economic Transformation and Development. This article is the result of a phased research on the “Finance Ecological Adaptability Research of Industrial Poverty Alleviation: Based on the Perspective of Industry Selection and Cultivation” of the Youth Fund Project of Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, project number: QN-2018021.

As the representative of the second generation of Internet information technology, blockchain technology is of great significance to change the transaction model, reduce transaction costs, and reshape the advantages of the industry. The credit information economy provided by blockchain technology will push market reforms deeper. However, the blockchain has stricter requirements for industry application scenarios. Only by matching the attributes of specific industries can the huge potential of blockchain technology be released.

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In recent years, the transformation and development of Shanxi's resource-based economy has achieved remarkable results. Among them, the structural adjustment of the energy industry has been basically completed, but a sustainable energy supply and consumption system has not yet been established. As the vanguard of the national energy revolution, relying on the scale advantage of the energy industry, it has taken the lead in using the new technical means of blockchain In the field of energy production, storage, and consumption, we will carry out pilot projects, build sustainable energy ecosystems, and improve the quality and efficiency of the energy industry in our province. It is also of great significance for the transformation and upgrading of other resource-based provinces. As a more advanced form of distributed information technology, blockchain has a natural fit with the energy industry. The distributed characteristics of the distributed supply side and consumer side of the energy industry lay the prerequisites for industry application scenarios for the promotion of blockchain technology. The promotion of blockchain technology to the energy industry specifically can benefit from three aspects: energy supply, energy consumption and energy security.

Multi-dimensional grid connection to realize innovation in energy supply. Innovating the use of energy and promoting the development of clean energy have become a global consensus and a major direction of China's energy strategy. In order to promote the use of clean energy and further improve the subsidy mechanism for wind power and photovoltaic power generation, the country has introduced a relevant green card voluntary subscription system. Before the implementation of this system, there were still bottlenecks in transactions such as credit, price, and value. In order to explore the green certificate free trading model, Shanxi Province, as the vanguard of the national energy revolution, fully develops and makes good use of various electric energy sources. Among them, the distributed wind and photovoltaic power generation industry and the blockchain's distributed technical characteristics are highly consistent. By connecting distributed ledgers to distributed energy sources, the issue of incentive mechanisms for new energy grid-connected power generation can be solved first. The support of blockchain technology for distributed energy is also in line with the goals of the national power reform. By further opening up the electricity market through blockchain technology, diversification of electricity trading methods can be achieved. Based on the multi-dimensional grid grid, build an energy trading center. By establishing a better trading mechanism, especially building a structured transaction content that conforms to the operation of the blockchain, many electricity sales companies and power demand customers are concentrated on one platform for trading To achieve economies of scale, form a trading system that supports asset certificate transactions, transfers, and deductions, and ultimately achieve energy supply innovation.

Diversified sharing and promotion of energy consumption upgrade. The matching of the renewable energy distributed industry pattern with the blockchain distributed technology also helps to realize the multiple sharing of energy consumption subjects. Consumption-based smart energy systems are integrated through blockchain technology to enable energy sharing and improve energy efficiency. In the distributed-based renewable energy system, the generation, transmission, and use of energy are no longer one-way, but become a complex network system. An energy consumer enterprise can provide surplus energy to other users in the ecosystem through a distributed energy transmission system, and a family can also provide energy outside the use of micro-PV cogeneration systems. In this case, when energy is in a networked system, multi-directional transmission, deployment, metering, interaction, and even optimization decisions will become extremely complicated and difficult to control. Blockchain technology is exactly the solution to the problem of smart energy systems. The second option is to use the distributed ledger to measure and trade energy for multiple entities in the energy system, that is, divide energy into standardized unit modules, and affix a blockchain logo to each unit to use the blockchain's Strong ability to ensure the reliability and accuracy of measurement. At the same time, the use of blockchain technology and the existence of security technologies can effectively ensure the privacy of users, the privacy and security of the main energy transactions in the energy ecosystem, achieve multiple sharing, and promote energy consumption upgrades.

Multi-step co-management to build an energy security barrier. The introduction of the blockchain digitizes the processes of all parties in the energy industry chain, including data collection and analysis of various hardware devices such as energy manufacturing, energy storage, energy processing, and energy security, building an intelligent energy security management model, and building energy Security ecosystem. The real-time fluctuations of energy systems require the entire system to run more efficiently, but independent distributed energy systems may not automatically achieve optimal efficiency. For example, when each distributed system containing energy storage or cogeneration plants hopes to provide more energy when energy prices are high, it may cause energy oversupply and price declines, or it may cause repeated severe shocks to give the entire fragile wisdom The energy network brings more instability factors, and the technical consensus mechanism of the blockchain can more effectively dispatch and allocate energy between various systems. In addition, blockchain technology aims at the full coverage of energy production, storage, and consumption, which facilitates multi-step co-management of the energy transmission process, and accurately and accurately feedbacks the abnormal problems of energy transfer in different stages in real time, avoiding the step-by-step troubleshooting of traditional energy faults The energy failure problem can be detected in a timely and accurate manner, and the organization can be repaired as soon as possible to reduce energy security maintenance costs, fundamentally eliminate the theft of electricity, and build an energy security barrier.

The application of blockchain technology in the energy industry can change the current traditional industrial operation model from the aspects of supply, consumption and security. Depending on the scale advantage of Shanxi's energy industry, the development of scenario application and innovation of blockchain technology has unique advantages. Furthermore, realizing the synergy between different energy systems, promoting the reshaping of the value chain of the smart energy business system, and realizing the transition from traditional energy to smart energy are new trends in the current energy revolution.

The feasibility of blockchain technology in the energy industry is beyond doubt. However, blockchain technology cannot guarantee the authenticity of the data before the chain. Therefore, the establishment of an interdisciplinary team of energy industry experts, information technology experts, and finance-related experts is dedicated to solving the connection between distributed content and distributed technology, which is conducive to the establishment of a standardized standardization of blockchains marked by structural content, which can be used for The energy industry's blockchain loading provides top-level design and is also the first step to promote the implementation of blockchain technology in the energy industry.

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