Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Technological Forecasting & Social Change

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/techfore

How to improve the competiveness of distributed energy resources in China T

with blockchain technology
Hou Jianchao , Wang Che, Luo Sai
⁎

College of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Distributed energy resources are located near users, which can realize energy cascade utilization and improve
Distributed energy resources the energy utilization efficiency. The features of distributed ledgers and smart contract auto-execution possessed
Blockchain technology by blockchain technology are in line with the requirements of distributed energy resources in billing and set-
Michael Porter five forces model tlement, which provides a direction for the application of blockchain technology in the distributed energy re-
SWOT model
sources. The integration of distributed energy resources in China with blockchain technology may break the
existing pattern where the production, transportation, distribution and sales of energy are centralized. This
paper first summarizes the current status of distributed energy resources in China and blockchain technology,
and then uses the Michael Porter five forces model to analyze the competitiveness of distributed energy re-
sources. The rivalry, threat of new entrants, threat of alternatives, bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining
power of buyers in energy industry are presented and analyzed. Based on the competitiveness analysis, the
SWOT model is used to analyze the joint development model of “blockchain technology + distributed energy
resources”, and the feasibility of blockchain technology applied to distributed energy resources systems is re-
vealed. Finally, the paper puts forward the key conclusions that blockchain technology can enhance the com-
petitiveness of distributed energy resources as well as relevant policy recommendations.

1. Introduction Decentralized energy systems have been extensively discussed in aca-

For a long time, the centralized energy resources of China have
unique advantages in achieving optimal resource allocation and im-
proving energy efficiency, which has played an important role in pro-
moting economic and social development (Polaris Power
Network, 2017). However, the resources, environment, and climate
issues have continued to deteriorate; new energy, new equipment, new
technologies have developed rapidly (combined cooling heating and
power system (CCHP Fig. 1; Pingkuo and Zhongfu, 2016) and dis-
tributed photovoltaic technologies, etc. (Polaris Power Network, 2018).
These situations lead to the inability of centralized energy sources in
terms of transmission loss, utilization efficiency, and environmental
pollution (Zhan, 2016). And the advantages of distributed energy re-
sources are demonstrated.
The “Distributed Generation Management Measures Consultation Draft”
(National Energy Administration) published by the National Energy
Administration in 2011 defined distributed generation as (Sisi, 2015;
Huang, 2014): distributed energy resources are a power generation
facility, a power generation system, or a joint supply system with power
output capability and energy cascade utilization characteristic.
demia (Hirsch et al., 2018; Di Silvestre et al., 2018; Soares et al., 2018).
It is in the vicinity of the user's location, not for the purpose of large-
scale long-distance transmission of electricity. The electricity generated
is not only used locally, but also the excess power is sent to the power
grid. As it is located in the vicinity of users, the electricity generated by
distributed energy resources can be consumed locally, which reduces
transmission and distribution losses (especially for remote areas) and
reduces investment in power grid construction. At the same time, some
distributed energy resources use the “combined cooling heating and
power system” to achieve energy cascade utilization, which can im-
prove energy efficiency (Chudnovsky et al., 2010). In addition, dis-
tributed energy resources mainly use clean energy such as solar energy
and natural gas, which can reduce air pollutant emissions. At present,
China's distributed energy resources are mainly composed of natural
gas distributed energy resources and distributed photovoltaics
(Jianchao China Distributed Energy Network). The nodes of a dis-
tributed energy resources are both energy producers and energy con-
sumers. This feature has caused many problems like payment issues,
measurement issues, etc. Blockchain technology offers opportunities to
solve these problems.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hdshuoyu@126.com (J. Hou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119744
Received 13 September 2018; Received in revised form 19 May 2019; Accepted 9 September 2019
0040-1625/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
J. Hou, et al.
Fig. 1. The CCHP system of typical distributed gas turbine. Source:
(Pingkuo and Zhongfu, 2016).
In 2008, with the release of Bitcoin and the publication of Satoshi
Nakamoto's paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”
(Satoshi, 2009), the blockchain technology, as a basic core technology
of the Bitcoin system, began to be noticed. Blockchains are shared and
distributed data structures or ledgers that can securely store digital
transactions without using a central point of authority (Andoni et al.,
2019), it is a distributed ledger leveraging consensus procedures and
cryptographic security (Ahla et al., 2019). In other words, blockchain
technology is an open, transparent, decentralized database
(Swan, 2015). Openness and transparency are reflected in that the
database is shared and monitored by all network nodes (Ning et al.,
2016); decentralization is reflected in that the database can be viewed
as a large, interactive spreadsheet, and all participants can access, up-
date and confirm that the data is authentic and reliable. The first ap-
plication of the blockchain technology was to achieve decentralization
of currency and payment instruments (Wright and De Filippi, 2015).
Since the blockchain technology has the transparency and reliability of
data, its application also extends from a single currency to different
types of assets. And the blockchain technology attempts to decentralize
the entire market by recording the transactions in the form of creating
asset values. The specific applications include smart contracts, smart
assets, decentralized applications, and decentralized autonomous en-
terprises (Dawei, 2016). When blockchain technology is applied to
distributed energy resources, distributed energy resources systems can
become more efficient, cost less, responsive, and more diverse in energy
supply and service. The distributed network structure of blockchain
technology happens to coincide with the market-oriented structure of
distributed energy resources. (Table 1 compares the concept of block-
chain and distributed energy resources) (Ming et al., 2017). The fea-
tures of distributed ledgers and smart contract auto-execution possessed
by blockchain technology are in line with the requirements of dis-
tributed energy resources in billing and settlement, which provides a
direction for the application of blockchain technology in distributed
energy resources (Hou et al., 2018). It is a promising scenario to adopt
blockchain in distributed energy market, such as the notable im-
plementation of Brooklyn micro-grid (Mengelkamp et al., 2018) and
other pioneering applications of blockchain technology in the chemical
Table 1
Comparison of the concept of blockchain technology and distributed energy resources.
Source: authors.
Characteristics Blockchain technology
Decentralization Rights and obligations of all nodes are equal.
Cooperative autonomy The network are jointly maintained by all nodes.
Marketization Trust mechanism without third parties.
Smart contract Contract that can be executed automatically
2
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
industry (Sikorski et al., 2017) and emission trading (Khaqqi et al.,
2018). In the future, the integration of blockchain technology and
distributed energy resources will probably break the existing pattern of
concentrated energy production, transmission, distribution and sell,
which is expected to subvert the traditional business models and profit
models of energy companies in China. Therefore, the research of
blockchain technology will be beneficial to promote the development of
distributed energy resources in China.
The geographical location of most of the areas covered in this paper
is shown in Fig. 2.
2. Status quo
2.1. Distributed energy resources
2.1.1. Natural gas distributed energy
As of the end of 2015, about 288 projects have been built or under
construction for natural gas distributed energy in China, with an in-
stalled capacity of about 11.12 GW. Among them, there are 133
buildings distributed energy, with installed capacity of about 0.23 GW;
and 155 regional distributed energy, with installed capacity of
10.89 GW. The main users are industrial parks, ecological parks, in-
tegrated commercial buildings, data centers, schools, transportation
hubs, office buildings, etc., of which the industrial park has the highest
proportion of installed capacity and accounts for about 76.3% of the
total installed capacity. By the end of 2016, 51 natural gas distributed
energy projects had been built and started operation, with an installed
capacity of 3.82 GW (Mainly located provinces and cities as displayed
in Table 2). Judging from all regions of the country, the sum of installed
capacity in the Yangtze River Delta, Sichuan-Chongqing region, Beijing-
Tianjin-Hebei, and the Pearl River Delta accounted for approximately
75.9% of the country's total installed capacity. However, in 2016, the
cumulative installed capacity of distributed natural gas in China was
12 GW, which was less than 2% of the country's total installed capacity
(Zhengping, 2017).
2.1.2. Distributed photovoltaic
As of the end of 2017, the cumulative installed capacity of China's
distributed photovoltaic was 29.66 GW, an increase of 190% over the
previous year. In 2017, the new installed capacity of China's distributed
photovoltaic was 19.5 GW, an increase of 350% over the previous year,
accounting for nearly 40% of the total new installed capacity of pho-
tovoltaic. The cumulative grid-connected capacity of distributed pho-
tovoltaic in eight provinces exceeded 1 GW, of which Zhejiang and
Shandong exceeded 4 GW, Jiangsu and Anhui exceeded 3 GW. The
relevant data is displayed in Figs. 3 and 4.
2.2. Blockchain technology
2.2.1. Stages of blockchain technology
The application of blockchain technology in China can be divided
into three stages: blockchain 1.0, blockchain 2.0 and blockchain 3.0.
Blockchain 1.0 (Miaoxuan and Jia, 2018): blockchain technology is
mainly applied to virtual currencies represented by Bitcoin. Blockchain
2.0: Blockchain technology is mainly used in other financial fields. It
Distributed energy resources
Equal and decentralized decision-making by the various distributed energy sources
Coordinated operations between different distributed energy sources
Independent trading of all distributed energy sources.
Automated trading is everywhere.
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Fig. 2. The geographical location of most of the areas covered in this paper. Source: Organized public information.

Table 2
Mainly located provinces and cities.
Source: Organized public information.
Area Number of projects completed or under Total installed capacity
construction (GW)

Beijing 17 4
Shanghai 35 1.95
Guangdong 9 2.595

aims to improve the efficiency of bank settlement payment and reduces

the cost of cross-border payment; it can also help the exchange to
achieve stock registration and transfer. Blockchain 3.0 still remains at
the research stage. Blockchain technology is mainly used in industries
other than finance, including energy and medical fields, to help solve Fig. 3. Provinces with cumulative grid-connected capacity of more than
trust problems and improve system operation efficiency. From 2014 to 1000 MW in distributed photovoltaic power generation in 2017. Source:
July 2017, the number of public patents for blockchain technology in Organized public information.
China increased from 2 to 428.

3
J. Hou, et al.
Fig. 4. The proportion of China's photovoltaic power generation installed ca-
pacity by the end of September 2017. Source: Organized public information.
2.2.2. Blockchain group
2.2.2.1. ChinaLedger. ChinaLedger was established in April 2016. The
Alliance Secretariat is located in the Wanxiang Blockchain Labs which
belong to the Wanxiang Group.
2.2.2.2. China blockchain research alliance (CBRA). CBRA was
established by the Global Shared Financial Forum for 100 (GSF100),
and LeTV Financial was appointed director-general of the GSF100.
2.2.2.3. Financial blockchain Shenzhen Consortium. The financial
blockchain cooperation alliance (Fig. 5) was established in June
2016. The organization has brought together 31 financial companies,
including Weizhong Bank, Jingdong Finance, etc.
2.2.3. Blockchain financing
Currently, there are two types of financing methods for blockchain
projects: traditional venture capital (VC) and Initial Coin Offering
Fig. 5. The participating institutions of three major blockchain alliances in China. Source: Organized public information.
4
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
(ICO). In 2017, China's VC project financing amounted to more than
0.1877 billion US dollars, and there were 54 financing events (Fig. 6).
In January 2018, the blockchain industry's financing amounted to
0.1005 billion US dollars, and the number of financing events reached
19. As of the first half of 2017, China's ICO raised 0.3843 billion US
dollars. Among them, Bitcoin and Ethereum accounted for more than
90% of the total. On September, 2017, the People's Bank of China and
other departments issued the “Announcement on Preventing the Risk of
Token Issuance Financing” (Chinese government official), which defined
ICO as an illegal activity, and the virtual currency exchange was forced
to close. Fig. 7 displays the geographical distribution of China's block-
chain projects.
2.2.4. Blockchain application
2.2.4.1. Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the most successful blockchain application
field by far. The website coinmarketcap.com shows that as of April 10,
2018, the current price per bitcoin was as high as $6728.17. China has
the largest number of bitcoin mining pools in the world, and as
displayed in the Table 3, eight of the world top ten bitcoin pools are
located in China.
2.2.4.2. Energy blockchain. In May 2016, the world's first energy
blockchain laboratory was established in China. The application
scenarios of blockchain were proposed, including demand side
management, power metering and market trading.
2.2.4.3. Public welfare. In 2017, Everbright Bank began to apply
blockchain technology in “Mother Water Cellar” to realize the
supervision of donation information and the traceability of donation
fees.
2.3. Policy environment
2.3.1. Distributed energy resources
In 2007, “The 11th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development”
(National Energy Administration) listed the distributed energy system
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Fig. 6. Numbers of China blockchain project financing. Source: Organized public information.

Fig. 7. The geographical distribution of China's blockchain projects. Source: Organized public information.

Table 3 energy resources for the first time. In 2016, “The “13th Five-Year Plan for
Distribution and market share of the world's top ten bitcoin pools in 2017. Energy Development” (Jianchao National Development and Reform
Source: Organized public information. Commission) proposed to attach great importance to the development
Rank Country Mining pool Proportion of distributed energy; to speed up the construction of distributed energy
projects and natural gas peak-shaving power station; to optimize the
1 China AntPool 17.56% solar energy development pattern and prioritize the development of
2 China BTC.TOP 10.81%
distributed PV. The remaining policies are displayed in Table 4.
3 China F2Pool 9.65%
4 China BTC.com 9.35%
5 China ViaBTC 7.79%
6 China BTCC 6.70% 2.3.2. Blockchain technology
7 Czech Republic SlushPool 6.43% In October 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information
8 Russia BitFury 6.22%
9 China Bixin 5.10%
Technology released the “White Paper on China's Blockchain Technology
10 China BW.COM 4.14% and Application Development (2016)” (Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology), which introduced the blockchain technology
in detail. And then in December 2016, the blockchain was first pub-
as the cutting-edge technology for the first time. And then in 2013, “The lished as a strategic frontier technology and disruptive technology in
12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development” (Jianchao Chinese govern- the in the “Notice of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the
ment official website) proposed to develop distributed energy vigor- National Informationization Plan for the 13th Five-Year Plan”
ously, coordinated the comprehensive utilization of traditional energy, (Jianchao Chinese government official website) issued by the State
new energy and renewable energy as well as achieved the coordinated Council. Other relevant policies are displayed in Table 5.
development of distributed energy resources and centralized energy
supply. The plan set clear targets for the development of distributed

5
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Table 4
Related policies on distributed energy.
Source: Organized public information.
Date Department The name of document/announcement

2010 State Grid Corporation of China Technical Regulations for Distributed Power Access to the Power Grid
2011 National Development and Reform Commission Guidance on the Development of Natural gas distributed energy
2011 The State Council Notice on Printing and Distributing the Work Plan for Controlling
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the “12th Five-Year Plan”
2012 National Energy Administration Research Report on the Development Trend of New Energy Industry
2012 Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China the “12th Five-Year Plan” for National Urban Gas Development
2012 National Development and Reform Commission Notice on the Release of the First Batch of National Natural Gas Distributed
Energy Demonstration Projects
2013 The State Council the “12th Five-Year Plan” for Energy Development
2013 National Energy Administration Interim Management Measures for Distributed Power Generation
2013 National Energy Administration Notice on Printing and Distributing the Interim Management Measures of
Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects
2014 National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration, Ministry of Detailed Implementation Rules for Natural Gas Distributed Energy
Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China Demonstration Project
2014 National Energy Administration Notice on Further Implementing Policies Related to Distributed Photovoltaic
Power Generation
2014 National Energy Administration Notice on Promoting the Construction of Distributed Photovoltaic Power
Generation Application Demonstration Areas
2016 The State Council The 13th Five-year Plan for Energy Development
2016 National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration The 13th Five-year Plan for Natural Gas
2016 National Energy Administration The 13th Five-year Plan for Solar Energy
2017.6 National Development and Reform Commission Opinions on Accelerating the Use of Natural Gas
2017.7 National Energy Administration Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan for
Renewable Energy Development
2018.3 National Energy Administration Guiding Opinions on Energy Work in 2018

3. Competitiveness analysis
At present, the distributed energy resources development in China is
still dominated by the government, which is reflected in two aspects: on
the one hand, while providing subsidies for some projects under con-
struction, the government controls the pricing power of related elec-
tricity prices. For example, the feed-in tariffs of natural gas power
generation in China are mostly approved by the government (such as
benchmark electricity prices). Once the feed-in tariff is determined, it
will remain unchanged for a long time; Changes in upstream fuel prices
cannot be delivered to the electricity price end, effectively and timely.
In addition, on December 19, 2017, National Development and Reform
Commission issued the “Notice of the National Development and Reform
Commission on the Price Policy for Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects
in 2018" (Jianchao National Development and Reform Commission),
stating that the feed-in tariffs of the Resource Area I to III (Table 6
displays China's three types of solar energy resources) were 0.1101,
0.0955, and 0.0808 US dollar/kWh (1 US dollar = 6.8097 RMB), re-
spectively. The electricity price of distributed photovoltaic power
generation project, which adopts the mode that all electricity is sold to
the grid company and is executed according to the electricity price of
the photovoltaic power station in the local resource area. On the other
hand, the relevant institutional mechanisms are formulated by the
government rather than dominating by the market. For instance, for
small-scale natural gas distributed energy projects, it is still very diffi-
cult to purchase low-cost natural gas spot through third-party access
(TPA) to pipeline network infrastructure. From the perspective of the
State Grid, it is also in a monopoly state, and the problem of grid-
connection has always existed (China-heating). This section uses the
Michael Porter five forces model (Fig. 8) to analyze competitiveness of
the government-led distributed energy resources (Table 7).
3.1. Rivalry
3.1.1. Natural gas distributed energy
As a low-carbon fossil energy source, natural gas has stronger power
supply stability. In recent years, China has vigorously developed nat-
ural gas energy. Natural gas distributed energy achieves energy cascade
utilization through the combined cooling heating and power mode,
whose comprehensive energy utilization efficiency is above 70%
(Song Weiming, 2016). This energy supply mode is near the load center,
which saves transmission and distribution investment, improves energy
utilization efficiency and reduces the loss in transportation. In addition,
natural gas distributed energy is a kind of equipment that can be started
and shut down quickly, which achieves the “peak cut” of natural gas
and electricity and improves the reliability and safety of energy supply
system. However, higher natural gas price and the situation of rich coal,
less oil and less gas in China make the cost of natural gas distributed
energy generation 2–3 times that of ordinary coal-fired power stations.
In addition, owing to the insufficient research of gas generator sets in
China, more than 90% of the units need to be imported from abroad
(Zhipeng, 2016), which makes it difficult to reduce the total investment
of the project.

Table 5
Related policies on blockchain technology.
Source: Organized public information.
Date Department The name of document/announcement

2013.12 The People's Bank of China Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risk

2016.12 The State Council Notice on Printing and Distributing the National Informationization Plan of the 13th Five-Year Plan
2017.7 The State Council Notice of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the Development Plan of a New Generation Artificial Intelligence
2017.6 The People's Bank of China The “13th Five-Year” Development Plan for the Information Technology in China's Financial Industry
2017.9 The People's Bank of China Announcement on Preventing the Risk of Token Issuance Financing
2017.10 The State Council Guidance on Actively Promoting Innovation and Application of Supply Chain

6
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Table 6
China's three types of solar energy resources.
Source: Organized public information.
Resource area Areas

I Ningxia, Qinghai Haixi, Gansu Jiayuguan, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Jinchang, Xinjiang Hami, Tacheng, Altay, Karamay, Inner Mongolia except
Chifeng, Tongliao, Xing'an League, Hulunbeier
II Beijing, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Sichuan, Yunnan, Chifeng, Tongliao, Xing'an League, Hulunbeier, Hebei Chengde, Zhangjiakou, Tangshan,
Qinhuangdao, Shanxi Datong, Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Yangquan, Shaanxi Yulin, Yan'an, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang other than the Resource Area I
III Areas except Resource Area I,Resource Area Ⅱ

Fig. 8. Michael Porter five forces model about distributed energy resources in China. Source: authors.

Table 7
Summary of competitiveness analysis.
Source: authors.
Competitiveness analysis Abstract Conclusion

Rivalry
Threat of new entrants
Threat of alternatives
Bargaining power of
Suppliers
Bargaining power of Buyers
Natural gas distributed energy is the most widely used and most efficient
distributed energy resources, but it is still limited by the shortage of
natural gas resources and the immature core technologies. Distributed
photovoltaic is the most widely used renewable distributed energy
resources, but it has the problem of unstable power generation and
difficult grid-connection.
Distributed wind power accounts for only 2% of China's wind power
installed capacity, but in recent years, relevant policies has been
introduced by the Chinese government to vigorously develop distributed
wind power. Raw materials of distributed biomass energy are low in cost
and easy to obtain, but current technology costs are high.
Centralized energy, which accounts for more than 80% of the country's
electricity generation, remains China's main energy.
Natural gas resources are scarce; Crystalline silicon in the photovoltaic
industry has high technical barriers; Raw materials of biomass energy are
readily available.
Most industries in China still use centralized energy, and there is
insufficient demand for distributed energy resources.
Natural gas distributed energy is the most competitive distributed
energy resources, but it should form an energy mix mode with other
renewable distributed energy resources.
At present, new entrants are not competitive enough, but their potential
is huge.
Centralized energy are the most competitive energy in China and
cannot be replaced in a short time.
The bargaining power of natural gas distributed energy and distributed
photovoltaic suppliers is strong, and the bargaining power of biomass
energy is weak.
The bargaining power of buyers is strong.

3.1.2. Distributed photovoltaic
Two outstanding characteristics, zero-emission and zero-pollution,
make solar energy a more useful resource and play an important role in
China's energy transformation (Zhou, 2014). The total annual solar
radiation in China is 3350–8400 MJ/m2, and the median value (the
middlemost value of the total solar radiation in all parts of China) is
5860 MJ/m2, which is equivalent to 24.96 billion tons of standard coal.
China's housing construction total area that can be utilized by solar
energy systems reached 20.2 billion square meters. According to a
conservative estimate of installing 100 W of photovoltaic cells per
square meter, there will be an installed capacity of 2 TW, if half of total
area is used to install a solar photovoltaic system, it can be equipped
with a 1 TW of photovoltaic power generation system. Compared to
other forms of power generation such as water and wind, the layout of
the distributed photovoltaic power generation system is more flexible
and can be installed on the top of buildings (Hou et al., 2018). How-
ever, due to the instability of illumination, photovoltaic power gen-
eration is unstable, which causes adverse effects on voltage stability,
power quality during grid-connection. In addition, the current devel-
opment of energy storage technology in the photovoltaic industry chain
is not mature enough and the economy is not high (Yipeng, 2017).

7
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

3.2. Threat of new entrants

3.2.1. Distributed wind power

In May 2017, the “Notice on Relevant Requirements for Accelerating
the Construction of Distributed Wind Power Projects” (National Energy
Administration) was issued by the National Energy Administration to
promote the development of distributed wind power. In addition, the
plan announced by Henan Province includes 124 decentralized wind
power projects with a total scale of 2.11 GW; the plan announced by
Shanxi Province includes 105 decentralized wind power projects with a
total installed capacity of 987.3 MW; from 2018 to 2020, Hebei Pro-
vince plans to develop distributed wind power of 4.3 GW by the end of
2017, the installed capacity of distributed wind power in China ac-
counted for less than 2%. In January 2018, China's first distributed
wind power project landed in Liaoning Province with an installed ca-
pacity of 7.5 MW. It is estimated that the annual approval scale of
distributed wind power in China will exceed 10 GW, and the installed
capacity will be installed more than 5 GW per year after 2019. Dis-
tributed wind power is suitable for development in low wind speed
areas. Central, eastern and southern China are generally in a low wind Fig. 9. The structure chart of China's power generation installed capacity in
speed region, the annual average generating equipment availability 2017. Source: Organized public information.
hours in the wind farm with an annual average wind speed of 5 m/s can
reach 2000 h, and there are 1 billion kW of wind energy resources with
3.3.1.1. Coal. China is rich in coal and is the world's largest coal
economic development value in these wind farms whose development
mining country (Li et al., 2015). The current annual output of coal
potential is extremely huge (Jianchao Polaris Wind Power Grid
exceeds 2.5 billion tons, accounting for 40% of the world's total
Network). The three main advantages of distributed wind power are:
production, half of which is used for power generation. In 2017, the
first, it helps solve the problem of interference caused by wind power
installed capacity of coal-fired power was 1.02 TW, accounting for 58%
access to large power grids (Yucong, 2014); second, distributed wind
of the total installed capacity. In terms of power generation, coal-fired
power is located near the load center, which is conducive to con-
power generation was 4200 TWh, accounting for up to 67%, which was
sumption and avoids the problem of “wind curtailment”; third, it solves
the main force of current power generation in China. The advantages of
the problem of energy loss caused by long distance transportation.
coal power are mature technology, stable and efficient power
However, wind power requires a separate site, which increases con-
generation as well as lower cost. But its main disadvantage is that it
struction costs (Hejun, 2014).
affects air quality seriously. In recent years, the coal-fired power
generation technology in China is at the forefront of the world, e.g.,
3.2.2. Distributed biomass energy the emission concentration of the third power plant of waigaoqiao is:
Biomass gas is obtained by converting combustible material such as dust emission is 7.55 mg/m3; sulfur dioxide is 17.7 mg/m3; nitrogen
crop straw and forest waste as raw materials (Jianchao China oxide is 15.19 mg/m3, these have reached the gas fuel emission index.
Distributed Energy Network). Among them, straw accounts for 51% of In the future, coal power will still the main force of power generation in
China's total agricultural output, and its annual output is about 600 China (Zhou et al., 2013).
million tons, of which about 300 million tons can be used as fuel and it
is equivalent to 150 million tons of standard coal. The availability of 3.3.1.2. Hydropower. Fig. 11 displays the installed capacity and
forestry waste is about 900 million tons per year, of which about 300 proportion of hydropower in recent years. In 2017, the hydropower
million tons have energy utilization value, and it is equivalent to 200 generation in China reached 1081.88 TWh, and hydropower installed
million tons of standard coal. Biomass resources are characterized by capacity reached 341.19 GW, accounting for 19% of the country's total
diverse sources, low energy density, and scattered distribution, which installed power capacity. The installed capacity of hydropower
determine their suitability for the development of distributed energy resources that can be developed in China is about 660 GW, and the
resources. Distributed biomass energy can be used to build small power annual power generation is about 3 000 TWh. If running for 100 years,
stations or as residential gas. However, utilization methods of tradi- it is equivalent to 100 billion tons of standard coal. Hydropower is
tional biogas in China are mainly based on household biogas digesters, second only to coal in the total remaining recoverable amount of
with small scale and low efficiency; large and medium-sized biogas conventional energy resources. The hydropower development degree
projects still have large gaps compared with foreign technologies, and has reached 75% (Jianchao Polaris Wind Power Grid Network). The
the level of equipment and manufacturing technology is not high remaining undeveloped parts include the Yarlung Zangbo River, etc.,
(Chuangzhi et al., 2016). At present, large and medium-sized livestock which will involve international problems in actual development.
manure biogas projects in China have not been combined with cogen- According to the statistics, the installed capacity and power
eration, normal temperature fermentation or nearly medium tempera- generation of the hydropower is 2.2 times and 4 times that of wind
ture fermentation with external heating source cannot maintain stable power respectively; the installed capacity and power generation of
gas production in winter and the net energy output rate is very low. hydropower is 2.6 times and 10 times that of photovoltaics respectively.
Hydropower is currently the most economical renewable energy source,
3.3. Threat of alternatives and the average feed-in tariff is about half of that of wind power and
about one-third of that of photovoltaics. Hydropower is the most
3.3.1. Centralized energy mature and widely used clean energy in China.
The centralized energy, which is manly composed of coal, hydro-
power, nuclear power, is still the mainstay of power generation. Fig. 9 3.3.1.3. Nuclear power. Fig. 12 shows the installed capacity and
and Fig. 10 are respectively the structure chart of China's power gen- proportion of nuclear power for nearly 10 years. The installed
eration installed capacity and China's generating capacity in 2017. capacity of nuclear power in 2017 was 35.82 GW, and the annual

8
J. Hou, et al.
Fig. 10. The structure chart of China's generating capacity in 2017. Source: Organized public information.
power generation was 248.07 TWh, accounting for 5% of the total
power generation. The relevant departments plan to install 58 GW by
2020, 120 GW and 800 TWh of power generation by 2030, which is
equivalent to 100 million tons standard coals; uranium resources are
scarce in China, 339 tons of uranium are required to build a 1 million
kilowatt unit, as well as 15 tons of uranium 235 and uranium 238 are
consumed each year, and the dependence on uranium imports has
exceeded 90%. At present, nuclear power cannot be the main energy in
China, and it can only be a supplementary method.
3.3.1.4. Centralized photovoltaic energy and wind energy. Centralized
photovoltaic and centralized wind power generation are characterized
by intermittent and volatility, so energy resources themselves will have
a strong impact on the main network when they are connected to the
grid in a large capacity and centralized way (Haijun et al., 2017). The
phenomenon of solar and wind curtailment are still serious owing to the
relatively concentrated layout of centralized energy. For example,
China's wind curtailment in 2017 was 41.9 TWh, and the rate of
wind curtailment was 12%; solar curtailment was 7.3 TWh, and the rate
of solar curtailment was 6%. Calculated according to the minimum
standard for benchmark prices of renewable energy, this means that the
asset owners of renewable energy generation lost at least 4.5083 billion
US dollars.
Fig. 11. The installed capacity and proportion of hydropower. Source: Organized public information.
9
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
3.4. Bargaining power of suppliers
3.4.1. Natural gas
At present, scarce natural gas resources, high prices (AsiguliYasin,
2016) as well as pricing power in the hands of the government make
suppliers have an absolute advantage at the time of bargaining. How-
ever, China's basic research on gas generator sets is insufficient, and
manufacturing lag behind market demand, which results in more than
90% of the units currently being imported from abroad. Moreover, the
operating and maintenance costs of core equipment such as gas turbines
remain high, leading suppliers to absolute advantage in bargaining
power.
3.4.2. Photovoltaics
The technical barriers for the production of crystalline silicon ma-
terials are very high, which are monopolized by ten major producers
around the world. And in 2017, the top ten component manufacturers
shipped up to 29.2 GW, accounting for about 57% of China's market.
The small number of suppliers and the serious shortage of silicon ma-
terial supply have kept the price of crystalline silicon high. However,
with the expansion of investment in the world's major crystalline silicon
producers, the supply has increased and the price of polysilicon mate-
rials has plummeted. The average price in February 2018 was 1.9032US
dollars per ton, 15% lower than last month. The above situation reflects
that the cost of PV companies has been reduced, so the bargaining
J. Hou, et al.
Fig. 12. The installed capacity and proportion of nuclear power. Source: Organized public information.
power of suppliers is gradually weakened. In summary, suppliers have
strong bargaining power, but their bargaining power has a tendency to
decrease.
3.5. Bargaining power of buyers
At present, centralized power supply is still the main energy supply
way in China, and compared with it, the distributed energy resources
have some shortcomings: the transaction volume is very small, the
transaction method is single, each node can only sell electricity to the
State Grid Corporation or China Southern Power Grid Company
Limited, cannot directly trade; the relevant institutional mechanisms
are not perfect, users do not have obvious demand for distributed en-
ergy resources. To sum up, buyers have strong bargaining power.
4. Analysis and discussion
4.1. SWOT analysis
Through competitiveness analysis, we can find that the competi-
tiveness of centralized energy in China is the strongest, and compared
with it, distributed energy resources are not competitive enough, but
their potential is huge (Xi, 2017). And distributed energy resources can
solve disadvantages of centralized energy, such as large transmission
loss and huge operating costs of central organizations. Hence, dis-
tributed energy resources require new technologies to spur its potential,
and the blockchain technology has created opportunities for the de-
velopment of it (Figs. 13 and 14 & Table 8).
The feasibility of blockchain technology applied to distributed en-
ergy resources systems is as follows:
1 In 2014, China launched a new round of power system reform. The
power system reform aims to break the monopoly of State Grid
Corporation of China on buying electricity and selling electricity,
and promote direct transactions by market players. Among them,
the monopoly of the power-selling side was broken is the focus. In
the future, the power-selling company will include three major ca-
tegories: power sales companies of State Grid Corporation of China,
power sales companies with distribution network operation rights,
and independent power sales companies. All parties can participate
in market transactions, and the main role of State Grid Corporation
of China is to transmit electricity, which provides policy feasibility
for the development of blockchain technology + distributed energy
resources systems.
2 In the short term, multi-agent technology and distributed database
technology have already matured applications in power systems,
10
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
which can basically meet the requirements of blockchain applica-
tions. In the long run, the energy router can undertake the opera-
tional tasks of the distributed energy resources system. It is used to
control the real-time energy conversion and information flow of the
system nodes. By carrying distributed computing and data storage
modules and pre-setting corresponding programs or algorithms,
Energy routers are well compatible with blockchain network node
functions and undertake the task of decentralized data storage,
computing and interactive verification (Ming et al., 2017), which
provides technical feasibility for blockchain technology +dis-
tributed energy resources systems.
This section uses the SWOT model (Table 9) to analyze the combi-
nation of blockchain technology and distributed energy resources sys-
tems in the energy mix mode.
4.2. Strengths
4.2.1. Optimization of measurement and certification
Measurement and certification is an important basis for promoting
distributed energy resources to be open and fair. Aside from existing
energy transactions, a wide variety of market transactions are involved
in distributed energy resources systems including ancillary services,
emissions trading and even financial transactions, therefore credible
measurement and authoritative certification are required. The dis-
tributed ledger technology and the consensus mechanism of the
blockchain ensure that the data cannot be falsified privately, and
guarantee the authority of measurement and certification, thus they can
play an important role in the measurement and certification of dis-
tributed energy resources (Yixi, 2016; Yong and Feiyue, 2016). For
example, blockchain technology can provide a fair and open metering
platform for green certificates or quota system in carbon trading, pro-
vide a recording platform for data of smart meters or power system
PMUs and reduce the proportion of bad data and ensure data credibility
through a consensus mechanism, as well as be used for measurement
and certification of cross-energy systems in distributed energy resources
systems.
4.2.2. Construction of market transactions
Transactions in future distributed energy resources systems are di-
versified, and the application of blockchain in trading has unique ad-
vantages. First, the clearing of all transactions in the blockchain is
shared by all nodes in the system and without the centralized trading
organization, which greatly reduces transaction costs (Jian et al.,
2017). Secondly, the information in the blockchain is transparent and
authentic, which can realize the symmetry of information and the
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Fig. 13. Traditional centralized energy mode. Source: authors.

effectiveness of the market (Shuang et al., 2018); Thirdly, each node in
the blockchain backs up all the data in the system, making the trans-
action records cannot be tampered with and ensuring the security and
reliability of the transaction system (Shanshan, 2017); In addition, the
blockchain can give each transaction a unique ID and record the
transaction time. The data is recorded in the blockchain and cannot be
tampered privately, which guarantees that the source of all electricity
can be traced back and used in carbon trading and green certificate
trading, etc. Finally, when trading conditions are met in the blockchain,
smart contracts will be signed and then executed automatically, which
ensures the execution and reliability of the contract and is conducive to
the fairness and reliability of the trading market. For example, in pace
with the reform of the electricity market, bilateral transactions between
power retailers and power producers based on blockchain will be more
efficient and transparent; the distributed energy resources enable tra-
ditional users to realize the transition from consumers to prosumers;
energy micro-transactions, which is based on C2C, can also be im-
plemented on blockchain trading platforms.
4.2.3. Development of energy finance
Energy finance is an important extension of the construction of
distributed energy resources systems. Attracting the injection of capital
from all parties will further accelerate the construction of distributed
energy resources systems, and innovative business modes such as
crowd-funding have become a new channel for financing distributed
energy resources, achieving efficient and rapid construction of dis-
tributed energy resources. The blockchain technology for energy crowd
funding can provide endorsement for startup companies and without

Centralized Energy

Smart
Smart electric meter
electric meter
Industrial user Distributed
energy resources

Power grid

Distributed
energy storage

Smart electric meter Smart electric meter

Distributed
energy resources
Distributed
energy resources
Information flow

Power structure Commercial user Civil user

Fig. 14. Distributed energy resources + blockchain mode. Source: authors.

11
J. Hou, et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744

Table 8
Comparison of traditional mode and blockchain mode.
Source: authors.
Power source Energy use situation Data Transaction form Transaction cost

Traditional mode Power grid (not traceable) High loss Central organization collection, B2B2C,C2B2C High
data opaque
Blockchain mode Internal energy storage is the main, supplemented by the Close to the user, low Authentic, real-time, open and P2P Low
power grid (traceable) loss transparent

the need for an intermediary as a third party, which greatly reduces the
cost of financing and enables investors to receive dividends on time. For
instance, crowd-funding of distributed photovoltaic is to achieve free
trade of assets through asset financing. Moreover, photovoltaic power
generation revenue can also be directly fed back to investors through
blockchain technology. The securitization and financialization of other
energy assets such as transmission and distribution lines can also be
used for efficient financing and trading on the blockchain platform.
4.3. Weaknesses
4.3.1. Insufficient computing power and response speed
The computing power and response speed of the blockchain still
exist problems (Xue et al., 2017). For example, as the most mature
blockchain application, bitcoin can only process 7 transactions per
second on average. The transaction confirmation has a delay of at least
10 min. Furthermore, the increase in the number of blocks also puts
higher demands on database capacity and bandwidth. More applica-
tions in distributed energy resources, such as collaborative optimization
in an energy mix system, have larger data volumes and higher re-
quirements for real-time performance. In the future, blockchain tech-
nology with shorter update intervals needs to be established, including
database technology with higher throughput, faster data communica-
tion technologies, more efficient consensus mechanism before the
blockchain technology is applied in the energy system with large data
processing and high real-time requirements.
4.3.2. Fault tolerance challenge
Blockchain technology is an asynchronous consensus network,
which does not theoretically have a consistent algorithm to ensure that
the system can reach consensus and achieve Byzantine fault tolerance
(Xuan and Yamin, 2017). At present, proof-of-work mechanisms
(mining) in Bitcoin use incentives to solve Byzantine fault tolerance and
thus guarantee the security of the system, but the corresponding cost is
the large amount of computing resources and the delay caused by
workload verification. In the future, the application of blockchain will
inevitably adopt an innovative consensus mechanism that does not
require mining, and reduce the system's consumption of computing
resources on the basis of maintaining system security and robustness.
4.3.3. The lack of responsible parties in smart contracts
There are a series of ethical issues, such as contract authorization,
responsible person determination of the defaulting party since the
contract party of the smart contract is often a virtual account rather
than a natural person (Kai and Xiaomin, 2016). The application of fu-
ture blockchain in distributed energy resources systems need to in-
troduce digital identity authentication services to provide different
types of numerical identity authentication services. In addition, policy
protection and supervision are required to ensure the legitimacy and
rationality of the main body in the blockchain.
4.4. Opportunities
4.4.1. Popular blockchain technology
At present, a large number of enterprises in the fields of Internet and
IT in China have begun to enter the blockchain industry. For example,
Wanxiang Group Holding PLC established the Wanxiang Blockchain
Lab in September 2015 to research blockchain industry and establish
the first blockchain cloud platform in China –Wancloud. In addition, a
venture capital fund focusing on the blockchain field has been estab-
lished by Wanxiang. More than 30 blockchain startups have been in-
vested globally, with a cumulative investment of over 30 million US
dollars. In September 2016, Wanxiang Group announced that 29.3199
billion US dollars in the next seven years will be invested to build a
“Wanxiang Innovation Energy Gathering City” with new energy ve-
hicles as its core industry in Hangzhou. So far, the project, which has
become the world's largest blockchain application project, will apply
blockchain technology in all aspects (Meihua, 2016). What's more,
Wanda Internet Technology Group actively participates in open-source
alliance of international blockchain, focusing on promoting the devel-
opment of domestic open-source blockchain technology, and devel-
oping a safe and autonomous platform for the blockchain technology.
4.4.2. Virtual power plant
In the future, many distributed power sources, such as distributed
wind power, distributed photovoltaic, etc., will be integrated into the
operation of large power grids (Rafiei, 2014). However, there is a small
capacity in the distributed power supply, and renewable energy is in-
termittent and random. An important way to achieve the coordination
of different virtual power generation resources is to carry out

Table 9
SWOT analysis summary.
Source: authors.
SWOT analysis Summary

Strengths 1. Blockchain technology can optimize measurement and certification of distributed energy resources.
2. Blockchain technology can build market transactions for distributed energy resources.
3. Energy finance is conducive to the financing of distributed energy resources.
Weaknesses 1. Computing power and response speed of blockchain technology is weak.
2. The fault-tolerant challenge and the proof mechanism of the asynchronous consensus network is not mature.
3. The responsible party of the smart contract is not clear.
Opportunities 1. Blockchain technology is popular.
2. Virtual power plant.
Threats 1. Monopoly of the energy industry.
2. The inherent complexity and physical laws of the energy system.
3. The legal and regulatory system for blockchain needs to be improved.

12
J. Hou, et al.
Fig. 15. The application of blockchain in virtual power sources trading. Source: authors.
centralized management and unified scheduling through the wide-
spread aggregation of distributed energy resources, demand response,
and distributed energy storage in virtual power plants, thereby synergy
between different virtual power generation resources can be achieved
(Zhinong et al., 2013). A low-cost, open and transparent system plat-
form for the transaction of virtual power generation resources can be
can provided by the blockchain. As displayed in the Fig. 15, a virtual
power plant information platform and a virtual power generation re-
source market trading platform are established based on the blockchain
system, and the virtual power plant and the virtual power generation
resource can be bidirectionally selected on the information platform
(Wei et al., 2017). Whenever virtual power generation resources are
determined to join a virtual power plant, the blockchain system will
automatically generate smart contracts for the agreement between the
two parties. At the same time, the contribution rate (the size of the
workload) generated by each virtual power source for the entire energy
system is open and transparent, and it can carry out reasonable mea-
surement and certification, stimulate users and distributed energy re-
sources to participate in the operation of virtual power generation re-
sources. In the blockchain market trading platform, transactions
between virtual power plants and ordinary users can be achieved
through smart contracts in the form of long-term power purchase
agreements, as well as real-time trading on the trading platform.
Among them, the grid companies are only responsible for power
transmission and do not participate in transactions.
4.5. Threats
4.5.1. Monopoly of the energy industry
The monopoly of energy systems poses a threat to blockchain in-
formation security (Hua, 2016). In the Bitcoin system, the nodes par-
ticipating in the whole network computing are dispersed, hence the cost
of tampering with the network is much larger than the revenue.
Therefore, the possibility of launching a “51% attack” on the Bitcoin
network is close to zero (Courtois, 2016). However, in the energy in-
dustry, more than 51% of the computing resources are likely to be
mastered by the same interest group, and the security of the blockchain
will be greatly threatened. The energy system is related to the national
economy and the people's livelihood, and information security is an
13
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
important point that needs to be fully taken into account. In addition,
the concentration of the energy industry is still high, and the possibility
of monopoly is also great. Therefore, more research needs to be in-
vested in subject access, data confidentiality, and data anti-attack
abilities.
4.5.2. The inherent complexity and physical laws of the energy system
When applied to money, payment, and banking, the physical system
of the blockchain is relatively simple, which often involves numerical
balance (Zhijiu and Yi, 2017). And the essence is the exchange of in-
formation. The energy system is a complex physical system, which is
faced with measuring bad data, modeling the relationship between
different types of complex physical quantities, and real-time operation
of the system. The grid-connection of large number of distributed en-
ergy resources will affect the power system and the power quality
(Hongjian, 2015).
4.5.3. Imperfect legal and regulatory system
The complete concealment of personal information by blockchain
technology may lead to illegal activities that can evade regulatory de-
partments (Yongzhen, 2017). Energy is an important field related to the
national economy and the people's livelihood, and its transaction and
operation still require strict supervision. However, there is still a lack of
research on how to incorporate the blockchain technology into reg-
ulatory systems.
5. Conclusion and policy recommendation
5.1. Research conclusions
This paper first analyzes the current competitiveness of China's
distributed energy resources through the Michael Porter five forces
model, and then analyzes the joint development mode of “blockchain
technology + distributed energy resources” through SWOT model, and
draws the following conclusions:
1 At present, the reform of the traditional centralized and extensive
economy is underway in China. The highly efficient distributed
energy resources, which are mainly based on clean energy, have
J. Hou, et al.
huge potential. Various types of supportive and guiding policies
were promulgated by the Chinese government. For example, “the
13th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development” (Jianchao National
Development and Reform Commission), “Notice on Conducting Pilots
of Distributed Power Generation Market Trading” (Jianchao Chinese
government official website), “Guidance for Energy Work in 2018″
(Jianchao National Energy Administration) etc., proposed to attach
great importance to the development of distributed energy re-
sources; accelerate the construction of distributed energy resources
projects; optimize the development pattern of solar energy; give
priority to the development of distributed photovoltaic power gen-
eration. However, the competitiveness of distributed energy re-
sources is still weak, which is reflected in the fact that the internal
technologies of distributed energy resources are still immature, the
bargaining power of suppliers is extremely strong, and the demand
of buyers is insufficient. Conversely, the centralized energy as a
substitute still has an overwhelming advantage. To enhance the
competitiveness of distributed energy resources, not only policy
support but also the new technologies are all necessary. According
to the analysis of this paper, the joint development mode of
“blockchain technology + distributed energy resources” is feasible
and necessary.
2 The blockchain technology in China is still in its infancy. Although
investment has increased and attention has risen sharply in recent
years, most of them are concentrated in the financial sector re-
presented by Bitcoin, blockchain technology, which is the under-
lying concept of Bitcoin, is not the main focus. And due to the im-
mature blockchain technology, especially in the energy field, it is
still in the concept stage, and there are not many projects actually
implemented. However, the four main features of blockchain tech-
nology: decentralization, transparency, the automation of contract
execution, and traceability can solve the existing problems of dis-
tributed energy resources and realize the advantages that the pre-
vious energy system does not have. For instance, the decentraliza-
tion of blockchain technology makes central institutions not exist in
distributed energy resources systems, which reduces a large amount
of cost; the transparency of blockchain technology makes data
transparent, which is conducive to supervision; the automation of
contract execution will be enforced automatically after the condi-
tions are fulfilled, which guarantees the execution and reliability of
the contract and is conducive to the fairness and reliability of the
trading market; traceability makes the source of all electricity
traceable, and promotes the development of carbon trading and
green certificates.
3 There is still some problems in the joint development mode of
“blockchain technology + distributed energy resources”. First, the
blockchain is essentially a distributed database, requiring powerful
storage devices for each node; Second, proof-of-work mechanisms
are currently only successful in the field of bitcoin, but it is still a
major problem that how to solve the problem of Byzantine fault
tolerance in the energy field; Third, the contracting party of the
smart contract is a virtual account instead of a natural person, and
there are a series of legal issues; Fourth, the energy industry is
monopolized by several major state-owned enterprises in China, and
the transaction reform and market construction have not yet been
completed; Finally, as a special commodity, electricity must follow
certain physical laws, such as grid-connection problems.
5.2. Policy recommendations
In order to promote the development of the joint development mode
of “blockchain technology + distributed energy resources”, this paper
puts forward some policy recommendations:
1 Government departments should legislate laws related to the energy
blockchain, formulate a unified industry standard for energy
14
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
blockchain and implement supervision based on the unified stan-
dard.
2 The government should establish research teams about “blockchain
technology + distributed energy resources” mode to study the
coupling of blockchain technology and energy industry, as well as
related technologies such as big data and cloud computing.
3 The government should strengthen the promotion of “blockchain
technology + distributed energy resources”, especially for en-
terprises and developers, so that they can better understand the
advantages of new technologies in order to promote the develop-
ment of this mode.
Acknowledgement
This paper is supported by Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science
Planning Project (Granted no. 2017BJB008).
References
Ahla, A., Yarime, M., Tanaka, K., et al., 2019. Review of blockchain-based distributed
energy: implications for institutional development. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 107,
200–211.
Andoni, M., Robu, V., Flynn, D., et al., 2019. Blockchain technology in the energy sector:
a systematic review of challenges and opportunities. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
100, 143–174.
AsiguliYasin, 2016. Discussion on Reasonable Utilization of Oil and Natural Gas.
Guangdong Chemical Industry.
China Distributed Energy Network: <http://www.thede.cn/index.php?c=article&id=
1625>, accessed on Feb 5th, 2018.
China Distributed Energy Network: <http://www.thede.cn/index.php?c=article&id=
1556>, accessed on Dec 5th, 2017.
China-heating. < http://www.china-heating.com/news/2017/38347_2.html>, accessed
on Nov 8th, 2017.
Chinese government officialwebsite:<http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2017-09/04/content_
5222657.htm>, accessed on Sep 4th, 2017.
Chinese government official website:<http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-01/03/
content_5252800.htm>, accessed on Dec 28, 2017.
Chinese government official website: <http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2016-12/
27/content_5153411.htm>, accessed on December 15, 2016.
Chinese government official website: <http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-01/23/content_
2318554.htm>, accessed on Jan 1, 2013.
Chuangzhi, W., Xiuli, Y., Huacai, L., Yong, C., 2016. Perspective on development of
distributed bioenergy utilization. Bull. Chin. Acad. Sci. 2, 191–198.
Chudnovsky, Y., Gotovsky, M., Arefiev, V., et al., 2010. Integrated Steam/Organic
Rankine Cycle (ISORC) for waste heat recovery in distributed generation and com-
bined heat and power production. In: International Heat Transfer Conference, pp.
77–81.
Courtois, N.T., 2016. Features or Bugs: The Seven Sins of Current Bitcoin. Springer
International Publishing.
Dawei, Z., 2016. Discussion on the application of blockchain technology in internet in-
surance industry. Financ. Dev. Res. 12, 35–38.
Di Silvestre, M.L., Favuzza, S., Riva Sanseverino, E., Zizzo, G., 2018. How decarboniza-
tion, digitalization and decentralization are changing key power infrastructures.
Renew. Sustain Energy Rev. 93, 483–498.
Haijun, T., Jianping, Z., Fan, Z., et al., 2017. Research on protection configuration and
tuning of centralized photovoltaic grid-connected system. In: Popular Utilization of
Electricity.
Hejun, Y., 2014. Reliability Evaluation and Optimization Models of Power Systems
Containing Wind Energy Considering Mutliple Factors. Chongqing University.
Hirsch, A., Parag, Y., Guerrero, J., 2018. Microgrids: a review of technologies, key drivers,
and outstanding issues. Renew. Sustain Energy Rev. 90, 402–411.
Hongjian, Z., 2015. Discussion on the integration of distributed energy supply system and
power system. Guide Sci-tech Mag. 2 215-215.
Hou, J., Wang, H., Liu, P., 2018. Applying the blockchain technology to promote the
development of distributed photovoltaic in China. Int. J. Energy Res. 42 (9).
Hua, B., 2016. Issues with Distributed Energy Supply System in China. Sino-Global
Energy.
Huang, B.B., 2014. Compare and analyze of the definition and development of distributed
generation in China and abroad. Adv. Mater. Res. 1, 925–928.
Jian, P., Sijie, C., Ning, Z., Zheng, Y., Liangzhong, Y., 2017. Decentralized transactive
mechanism in distribution network based on smart contract. Proc. CSEE 13,
3682–3690.
Kai, H., Xiaomin, B., Gaolingchao, ,, 2016. Formal verification method of smart contract.
J. Inf. Secur. Res. 12, 1080–1089.
Khaqqi, K.N., Sikorski, J.J., Hadinoto, K., Kraft, M., 2018. Incorporating seller/buyer
reputationbased system in blockchain-enabled emission trading application. Appl.
Energy 209, 8–19.
Li, W., Younger P, L., Cheng, Y., et al., 2015. Addressing the CO2, emissions of the world's
largest coal producer and consumer: lessons from the Haishiwan Coalfield, China.
Energy 80 (C), 400–413.
J. Hou, et al.
Meihua, W., 2016. Wanxiang: new energy industry is on the road. Businessm. Chekiang
11 52-52.
Mengelkamp, E., Gärttner, J., Rock, K., Kessler, S., Orsini, L., Weinhardt, C., 2018.
Designing microgrid energy markets: a case study: the Brooklyn Microgrid. Appl.
Energy 210, 870–880.
Miaoxuan, C., Jia, L., 2018. Accelerate the research and application of blockchain tech-
nology and build a credit society. Comput. Knowl. Technol.
Ming, Z., Jun, C., Yuqing, W., 2017. Primarily research for multi module cooperative
autonomous mode of energy internet under blockchain framework. Proc. CSEE 13,
3672–3681.
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: <http://www.199it.com/archives/
526865.html>, accessed on Oct 18, 2016.
National Development and Reform Commission: <http://www.ndrc.gov.cn/gzdt/
201712/t20171222_871325.html>, accessed on Dec 19, 2017.
National Development and Reform Commission: <http://www.ndrc.gov.cn/zcfb/zcfbtz/
201701/t20170117_835278.html>, accessed on Dec 26, 2016.
National Energy Administration: <http://zfxxgk.nea.gov.cn/auto82/201803/
t20180307_3125.htm>, accessed on Feb 26, 2018.
National Energy Administration: <http://zfxxgk.nea.gov.cn/auto87/201706/
t20170606_2801.htm>, accessed on May 27, 2017.
National Energy Administration: <http://www.nea.gov.cn/2011-08/22/c_131065984.
htm>, accessed on Aug 22, 2011.
National Energy Administration: <http://zfxxgk.nea.gov.cn/auto87/201803/
t20180323_3132.htm>, accessed on Mar 20th, 2018.
Ning, Z., Yi, W., Chongqing, K., Jiangnan, C., Dawei, H., 2016. Blockchain technique in
the energy internet: preliminary research framework and typical applications. Proc.
CSEE 15, 4011–4022.
Pingkuo, L., Zhongfu, T., 2016. How to develop distributed generation in China: in the
context of the reformation of electric power system. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 66,
10–26.
Polaris Power Network: <http://news.bjx.com.cn/html/20180119/875493.shtml>, ac-
cessed on Jan 19th, 2018.
Polaris Power Network: <http://news.bjx.com.cn/html/20171106/859795.shtml>, ac-
cessed on Nov 6th, 2017.
Polaris Wind Power Grid Network: <http://news.bjx.com.cn/html/20180207/879489.
shtml>, accessed on Feb 7th, 2017.
Polaris Wind Power Grid Network: <http://news.bjx.com.cn/html/20170906/848135.
shtml>, accessed on Sep 6th, 2017.
Rafiei, S., 2014. Application of Distributed Generation Sources for Micro-grid Power
Quality Enhancement.
Satoshi, N.S., 2009. Bitcoin:a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Consulted.
Shanshan, G., 2017. Implementation of the Supply Chain's Trusted Traceability Query on
the Blockchain. Dalian Maritime University.
Shuang, H., BaoMing, P., ShunXi, L., Xiangze, L., Xiaodong, Z., Shuai, W., 2018.
Application of block chain technology in digital asset security transaction. Comput.
Syst. Appl. 27 (3).
Sikorski, J.J., Haughton, J., Kraft, M., 2017. Blockchain technology in the chemical in-
dustry: machine-to-machine electricity market. Appl. Energy 195, 234–246.
Sisi, D., 2015. The enlightenment of foreign distributed energy development to China.
Eng. Sci. 3, 84–87.
Soares, N., Martins, A.G., Carvalho, A.L., Caldeira, C., Du, C., Castanheira, E., et al., 2018.
The challenging paradigm of interrelated energy systems towards a more sustainable
future. Renew. Sustain Energy Rev. 95, 171–193.
15
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 151 (2020) 119744
Song Weiming, 2016. Development status and trend of natural gas distributed energy in
China. Energy China 10, 41–45.
Swan, M., 2015. Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy. New Star Press.
Wei, Y., Yue, H., Xiaoyu, Y., 2017. Virtual power plant operation and scheduling model
based on energy blockchain network. Proc. CSEE 13, 3729–3736.
Wright, A., De Filippi, P., 2015. Decentralized Blockchain Technology and the Rise of Lex
Cryptographia. Social Science Electronic Publishing.
Xi, Z., 2017. Competitiveness Analysis and Improving Path Models for Distributed
Generation Projects. North China Electric Power University.
Xuan, H., Yamin, L., 2017. Research on the consensus mechanisms of blockchain tech-
nology. Netinfo Security 9, 147–152.
Xue, Y., Hongbin, S., Qinglai, G., 2017. Transaction efficiency analysis of blockchain
applied to energy internet. Power Syst. Technol. 10, 3400–3406.
Yipeng, Y., 2017. The control scheme of energy storage technology of photovoltaic power
generation system. Manage. Technol. SME 8, 188–189.
Yixi, C., 2016. Research on the “Impossible Triangle” of blockchain technology and the
problems needing attention. Zhejiang Finance 2, 17–20.
Yong, Y., Feiyue, W., 2016. Blockchain: the state of the art and future trends. Acta Autom.
Sin. 4, 481–494.
Yongzhen, G., 2017. Reconstruction and challenge analysis of blockchain's development
of internet finance. J. Commer. Econ. 2, 169–171.
Yucong, G., 2014. Reactive Power Optimization Control Strategy for Distribution
Network with Distributed Wind Power. North China Electric Power University.
Zhan, H., 2016. Environmental Protection Performance and Environmental Impact
Research of the Stationary Internal Gas-Combustion Engines. Nanjing University of
Information Science & Technology.
Zhengping, Q., 2017. Analysis and Suggestions on the Status Quo of Distributed Energy
Development in China. China Electrical Equipment Industry.
Zhijiu, H., Yi, C., 2017. The application and prospects of blockchain in commercial banks.
New Finance 10, 44–48.
Zhinong, W., Shuang, Y., Guoqiang, S., et al., 2013. Concept and development of virtual
power plant. Autom. Electr. Power Syst. 13, 1–9.
Zhipeng, G., 2016. Study on AGC Control and Combustion Stability Control Gas Turbine.
North China Electric Power University.
Zhou, Y., 2014. Translation Report of Green Investments in Solar Energy. University of
International Business and Economics.
Zhou, J., Luo, Z., Zhu, Y., et al., 2013. Estimation of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired
Power Plants in China. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 21–27.
Jianchao Hou is an associate professor in Shanghai University of Electric Power. He got a
Ph.D. in Management from North China Electric Power University. His research interests
are: energy economy, electricity market optimization. He has published more than 10
papers in academic journals such as Renewable Energy, International Journal of Energy
Research, and China Power, etc., including 5 SCI search papers.
Che Wang is a Master graduate student in Shanghai University of Electric Power. He got
the Bachelor degree from Hebei University of Science and Technology in 2016. His re-
search direction: energy technology, Energy Internet.
Sai Luo is a Master graduate student in Shanghai University of Electric Power. She re-
ceived the Bachelor degree from Henan University of Technology in 2017. Her research
direction are: power engineering economics and management.