Alexander Kevin Flemming
Title: Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading and Localism: The Role of Distributed Ledger Technology in Germany’s Energy Transition
Supervisor: Dr. Christos Giotitsas, Alexandros Pazaitis, MA
Opponent: Prof. Dr. Erkki Karo
Defense: 17 August 2020
Abstract: The German Energiewende (Engl. energy transition) relies increasingly on the interplay of distributed energy resources and digital technologies. Due to the EU Clean Energy package citizens will be empowered to actively engage in the energy sector, which will result in new energy governance concepts on the local level. Distributed Ledger Technologies, often synonymously used with the term blockchain technology, aim to circumvent intermediaries by establishing an environment that allows for direct energy trading between peers. The idea is to enable households that are in close proximity to each other to trade near real-time small amounts of energy. Some sources already attributed revolutionary potential to this technology in the light of the German energy transition. However, P2P energy trading based on a Distributed Ledger Technology exhibits a low maturity level and the diffusion of such projects is constrained by several factors. This thesis includes an analysis on how present structures in the German energy system impact the implementation of this novel technology and derives in this context drivers and barriers with regards to its adoption.
Keywords: peer-to-peer, energy policy, decentralization, distributed ledger technology, complex systems, Panarchy
