A Brief Review of Methods to Simulate Peer-to-Peer Trading in Electricity Networks

The threat of climate change has caused countries to begin the decarbonization of the energy chain; the broader adoption of renewable energy technologies is playing a pivotal role in achieving this goal. The closing of the feed-in tariff and the unattractive rates offered by the new smart export guarantee has resulted in a decline in the number of new solar installations. Peer-to-peer energy trading markets have the potential to get renewable energy installations back on track by increasing the value of the generated energy to all parties involved. The move from centralized to distributed energy systems brings its own set of potential challenges, including reverse power flows and islanding. Accurate simulations of both the peer-to-peer network and the broader distribution network need to be developed and integrated for the impacts of peer-to-peer energy trading markets on the energy transmission grid to be made apparent. This paper looks at the methods and technologies used to simulate each aspect in a grid-connected peer-to-peer energy trading network and attempts to draw some comparisons between the methods used in the reviewed literature.