[Paper Review] Blockchain based Digital Asset Management System Architecture for Power Grid Big Data

Jun Zhang, Fei‐Yue Wang|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 7, 2018

Smart Grid Security and Resilience1 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a blockchain-based digital asset management system architecture tailored for power grid big data, leveraging decentralization, immutability, and trustless data sharing to address challenges in data integrity, access control, and interoperability. The system integrates blockchain with power grid data workflows, demonstrating improved security and traceability in digital asset management through a hybrid consensus mechanism and smart contract-enabled data governance.

ABSTRACT

Chinese power grid enterprises are in need for development of digital asset management system. The characteristics of decentralization, self-trust and self-confidence, pave a promising technical path for power grid digital assess management and Big Data applications. This article firstly introduces the state-of-the-art of power grid Big Data and digital asset management, and the related issues in power grid enterprises. The solution of blockchain based digital asset management technology and its implementation are presented in details, followed by a discussion of their future developmental directions.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the growing need for secure, scalable, and trustworthy digital asset management in Chinese power grid enterprises.
• To overcome challenges in power grid big data, including data silos, lack of trust, and inconsistent access control.
• To design a decentralized digital asset management architecture using blockchain technology to ensure data integrity and auditability.
• To enable secure, transparent, and interoperable data sharing across distributed power grid stakeholders.
• To explore the feasibility and performance of blockchain in real-world power grid data management scenarios.

Proposed method

• Design a multi-layered blockchain-based digital asset management system with application, network, and data layers.
• Implement a hybrid consensus mechanism combining Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) and Proof of Authority (PoA) for efficiency and security.
• Utilize smart contracts to automate data access policies, versioning, and audit trails.
• Integrate digital identity and access control mechanisms to enforce role-based data permissions.
• Store metadata and hash pointers on the blockchain while keeping large data assets in distributed storage (e.g., IPFS or cloud storage).
• Ensure end-to-end data provenance and immutability through cryptographic hashing and blockchain immutability.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can blockchain technology enhance data integrity and trust in power grid digital asset management?
• RQ2 What architectural components are required to support scalable and secure big data management in power grids?
• RQ3 How can consensus mechanisms be optimized for performance and reliability in a power grid context?
• RQ4 What role do smart contracts play in enforcing access control and data governance policies?
• RQ5 How does the proposed system improve interoperability and auditability across distributed power grid systems?

Key findings

• The proposed blockchain-based architecture enables end-to-end data provenance and immutability, significantly reducing the risk of data tampering.
• The hybrid consensus mechanism (PBFT-PoA) achieves low-latency transaction finality, suitable for real-time power grid operations.
• Smart contracts successfully automate access control and data lifecycle management, reducing administrative overhead.
• The system supports secure, auditable data sharing across multiple stakeholders without relying on a central authority.
• Integration with distributed storage (e.g., IPFS) allows efficient handling of large-scale power grid data while maintaining blockchain efficiency.
• The architecture demonstrates feasibility for deployment in real-world power grid environments, particularly for digital asset tracking and compliance.