Foundations of Distributed Ledger Technology

Abstract

The electric power industry is undergoing substantial changes as it transitions from an industry primarily based on fossil fuels to one primarily based on renewables, and from a largely undigitialized grid to one connected through IoT technology. In contrast with fossil fuel powerplants, renewable generators are being deployed in a distributed fashion, at smaller sites but with large numbers of sites. This transformation poses challenges in terms of tracking production. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is ideally suited to the task of tracking a distributed power production system. This chapter presents the basics of DLT, of which blockchain technology (BT) has received the most research and deployment interest and effort. A brief overview of BT includes a discussion of what sorts of problems blockchain is good at solving. Identity and access management (IAM) for blockchain is discussed within the frame of general IAM for software as a service. An overview of some widely deployed blockchain platforms is presented. The three basic mechanisms important to any blockchain system are discussed: block representation, uses of cryptographic, and distributed consensus architecture and algorithms. On top of these mechanisms, smart contracts, tokenization, distributed identity management, and verifiable credentials are built.