A review of P2P energy markets and a possible application for remote areas

Peer-to-peer (P2P) markets are emerging as a promising alternative to the current centralized markets, especially for the management and operation of areas where traditionally passive electricity consumers become small-scale producers (prosumers). This solution may also be a more convenient alternative to an expensive extension of the existing grid infrastructure, to handle the increasing electric load. Thus, lately, extensive research work is aiming to provide efficient and reliable operation of local energy markets. This paper provides a review of current studies and decomposes the components required for P2P markets: price-formation, prosumers behavior, grid technical specifications, and peer-matching optimization algorithms. Furthermore, it examines the existing case studies that are moving towards P2P energy trading. Finally, we propose the interconnection of microgrids in a remote rural area as a possible application of P2P trading. A simple case study with two microgrids shows that peer-to-peer transactions may allow reducing generation capacities by 10% and storage system by 50%.