Optimizing multilevel peer-to-peer energy trading: a case study and comparative analysis of pricing mechanisms

Abstract

Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) refer to the energy resources typically located at the customer end. These resources include solar PV systems, electric vehicles, battery energy storage, etc. Integration of DERs empowers end users to optimize energy utilization, minimize cost, and reduce carbon footprint. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading is as an emerging trading mechanism for effectively utilizing the DERs. However, it is challenging to implement P2P energy trading, due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders like retailers, coordinators, and peers. Therefore, this research work focuses on the multilevel approach to model P2P energy trading. The objective is to establish a mathematical formulation for P2P energy trading, accounting the interactions among various stakeholders using the multilevel approach. The developed framework is validated using data from the P2P energy trading testbed at the Indian In-stitute of Technology, Gandhinagar. Various pricing mechanisms employed by the coordinator have been analyzed.