Volume 13, Number 3

Information-Centric Blockchain Technology for the Smart Grid

  Authors

Lanqin Sang and Henry Hexmoor, Southern Illinois University, USA

  Abstract

This paper proposes an application of blockchain technology for securing the infrastructure of the modern power grid - an Information-Centric design for the blockchain network. In this design, all the transactions in the blockchain network are classified into different groups, and each group has a group number. A sender’s identity is encrypted by the control centre’s public key; energy data is encrypted by the subscriber’s public key, and by a receiver’s public key if this transaction is for a specific receiver; a valid signature is created via a group message and the group publisher’s private key. Our implementation of the design demonstrated the proposal is applicable, publisher’s identities are protected, data sources are hidden, data privacy is maintained, and data consistency is preserved.

  Keywords

Information-Centric, Blockchain, Smart Grid, Network Security, Distributed System.