SunSpec Blockchain Work Group
The charter of this work group is to create requirements and specifications for using blockchain technology to secure connected device credentials used in power grid communications. The result of this work group will be used to inform the development of a production blockchain and give recommendations to governing entities. Specifically, the work group will create a specification document for a decentralized application (DApp) and a requirements document for blockchain that will run the DApp.
Group Leaders
Project Leader(s):
Jörg Brakensiek, CTO, Wivity Inc.
SunSpec Representative:
Tom Tansy, Chairman
Topics Covered
The work group scope will be creating requirements and specification documents in the following areas:
- Problem definition and use cases
- Market and regulatory requirements
- Blockchain governance
- Security credential provisioning
- Representation of devices and organizations on the blockchain
- Data content stored on the blockchain
- Data format on the blockchain
- Data access policies, e.g. privacy requirements
- Role of auditors and security service providers
- Tracking of device ownership and custody
The following topics are not in scope:
- Blockchain consortium legal structure, if applicable
- Blockchain protocol, including consensus mechanism
- Definition of blockchain solutions outside the DER use case.
Blockchain Specification
Participation
You must be a Contributing Member of the SunSpec Alliance to participate in this Work Group. Click here to see if your company is already a member or click here to join the Alliance. Contact membership@sunspec.org to enroll today!
Meeting Scheduled
Following the completion of its objective, this work group is currently in haitus. See the event calendar for the next meeting. Go to the member portal for meeting coordinates.
Background
CA Rule 21 has defined IEEE 2030.5 as the primary communication method between utilities and exporting distributed energy resources. Unfortunately, Rule 21 does not mandate all the security requirements of IEEE 2030.5, and IEEE 2030.5 itself does not address all the potential threats to the distributed power grid. In particular, IEEE 2030.5 does not specify policy to protect against supply chain attacks. The output of this work group is a solution that addresses this security hole.
References
Work Group Teamwork Shared Space (must be registered to access, contact membership@sunspec.org)