Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading in Microgrids and Local Energy Systems

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is an innovative approach for managing increasing numbers of Distributed Energy Resources in microgrids or local energy systems. In P2P energy trading, prosumers and consumers directly trade and exchange power and energy with each other. The development of P2P energy trading is described in five key aspects, that is, market design, trading platforms, power and ICT infrastructure, regulation and policy, and from a social science perspective. A general multiagent framework is established to simulate the behaviour of and interaction between multiple entities in P2P energy trading. A general evaluation index hierarchy is proposed to assess various P2P energy trading mechanisms. Finally, a residential community that is set in the context of Great Britain is studied using multiagent simulation and hierarchical evaluation methods. Both the technical and economic benefits of P2P energy trading are demonstrated.