Power grids are undergoing major changes due to rapid growth in renewableenergy resources and improvements in battery technology. While these changesenhance sustainability and efficiency, they also create significant managementchallenges as the complexity of power systems increases. To tackle thesechallenges, decentralized Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions are emerging,which arrange local communities into transactive microgrids. Within atransactive microgrid, "prosumers" (i.e., consumers with energy generation andstorage capabilities) can trade energy with each other, thereby smoothing theload on the main grid using local supply. It is hard, however, to providesecurity, safety, and privacy in a decentralized and transactive energy system.On the one hand, prosumers' personal information must be protected from theirtrade partners and the system operator. On the other hand, the system must beprotected from careless or malicious trading, which could destabilize theentire grid. This paper describes Privacy-preserving Energy Transactions(PETra), which is a secure and safe solution for transactive microgrids thatenables consumers to trade energy without sacrificing their privacy. PETrabuilds on distributed ledgers, such as blockchains, and provides anonymity forcommunication, bidding, and trading.
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