# Distributed Proportional-Fairness Control in MicroGrids via Blockchain Smart Contracts

## TL;DR

This paper proposes a blockchain-based distributed control strategy for microgrids that incentivizes DERs to operate fairly and avoid power surpluses, ensuring voltage stability and trustworthiness.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel proportional-fairness control method implemented via blockchain smart contracts for microgrid DER management.

## Key findings

- Blockchain ensures trust and transparency in control enforcement.
- The control strategy effectively balances DER output and maintains voltage levels.
- Simulation confirms the framework's potential for microgrid stability.

## Abstract

Residential microgrids (MGs) may host a large number of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). The strategy that maximizes the revenue for each individual DER is the one in which the DER operates at capacity, injecting all available power into the grid. However, when the DER penetration is high and the consumption low, this strategy may lead to power surplus that causes voltage increase over recommended limits. In order to create incentives for the DER to operate below capacity, we propose a proportional-fairness control strategy in which (i) a subset of DERs decrease their own power output, sacrificing the individual revenue, and (ii) the DERs in the subset are dynamically selected based on the record of their control history. The trustworthy implementation of the scheme is carried out through a custom-designed blockchain mechanism that maintains a distributed database trusted by all DERs. In particular, the blockchain is used to stipulate and store a smart contract that enforces proportional fairness. The simulation results verify the potential of the proposed framework.