# Can Blockchain Strengthen the Energy Internet?
## 8 Discussion  
The envisaged EI grids intend to integrate a diversity of distributed resources in order to achieve decentralized, autonomous operations. This facilitates consumer liberalization while enhancing reliability, stability through a secure and privacy-preserving platform. Blockchain is identified as an eminent factor driving the transformation from the hierarchical architecture towards an open market. Blockchain facilitates the realization of the intelligent grid architecture at the benefit of real-time operation with minimal involvement of an intermediary [86]. The paper discusses six directions of future EI architecture realization through the integration of blockchain platforms. Enhanced energy diversity catered with an improved security and privacy-preserving mechanism utilizes the inherent features of the blockchain-based architecture. Grid intelligence along with the EI data management, facilitate the near real-time decision making through predictive data analysis [77]. The ultimate goal of the blockchain integrated EI grids would be to ensure a reliable and stable power supply while maximizing consumer participation in electricity distribution [87]. Further, it is envisaged to achieve delegated authority with the distributed operation, which eliminates the threat of single-point failure. The key challenges related to each direction discussed in the previous sections are summarized in Table 2. The applicability of inherent blockchain features to address these challenges is visually represented. The contribution of the existing work in addressing the key challenges identified for each driving trend has been categorised according to its level of impact. Among the identified challenges, establishment of a decentralized, P2P marketplace is a well established research area having many real-world implementations. Securing communication links, adversarial handling related to privacy, authentication, data manipulation and energy theft, attention given in establishing scalable grids having data integrity preserved are addressed through the existing work up to a reasonable extent. However, further developments are required to fully overcome the challenges present. Challenges which require significant research consideration include facilitating seamless grid integration for DERs enabled with low-latency grid synchronization, ensuring interoperability, power quality management with high penetration of DG, improving accuracy of intelligent decision making, efficient smart grid data management, accountability and trust management. AL and ML related attacks require attention in future grids in the way forward, facilitating predictive data analysis tools. In addition, Table 3 summarizes the level of impact of each identified directions on broad applications of EI grids. Further, the benefits of integrating blockchains in each instance have been elaborated. Practical implementations and examples related to EI grid applications have been considered in this analysis, which verifies the benefits of blockchain integration in future energy grid realizations and signifies the way forward. However, the attention received by these novel electricity grids has attracted more stakeholders where scalability becomes effective. Decentralized scalability is a requisite to cater to the demands of the distributed grid operation with minimal third-party involvement; hence trust establishment mechanism should be transparent. Existing blockchain platforms have not reached the level of maturity to cater to the extensive numbers of stakeholders integrating with the EI grid [64]. Secure and privacy-preserving techniques, which do not trade-off scalable blockchain solutions, need to be considered for future electricity distribution networks to attain maximum benefits. Decentralization, scalability and security/privacy trilogy should be equalized for successful grid transformation from conventional top-down hierarchical architecture to open electricity markets offering the benefit of consumer liberalization.