Applications of blockchain technologies in artificial electricity market settlement and clearing

Abstract Blockchain technology is demonstrating vast potential in the realm of distributed energy transactions. This article employs the Ethereum platform to architect an energy trading settlement framework. By incorporating whitelists, authorization mechanisms, and dedicated energy tokens, transactions are rendered more secure and reliable, ensuring the openness, transparency, traceability, and immutability of transaction information. The proposed transaction settlement mechanism automatically updates users' energy imbalances and levies corresponding charges, thereby ensuring strict adherence to transaction contracts. Furthermore, during the settlement phase, smart contracts are employed to autonomously evaluate the creditworthiness of transaction parties, with results recorded on the blockchain. As the credit levels of the entities across the entire network increase, the block generation time for distributed energy trading blockchains becomes shorter, with the block generation time predominantly influenced by the credit rating of the highest-rated entity in the network. Hence, through smart contract design based on energy trading, blockchain technology is utilized to enhance the transparency and security of transaction settlement and clearing. Future research could focus on improving blockchain scalability, integrating emerging technologies, to advance the effectiveness and adoption of blockchain-based energy trading systems.