Besu vs. Quorum: Comparative Analysis in the Context of Simulated Energy Communities

Pierro G. A.

;Cocco L.;Tonelli R.

2024-01-01

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Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of two private blockchains, Besu and Quorum, both built on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in order to manage the simulated production, consumption and exchange of energy in the context of a Renewable Energy Community (REC). The research focuses on simulating energy production through photovoltaic panels within a community, utilizing energy storage systems. The simulated data serve as input for two private blockchains, leveraging smart contracts to transform the simulated energy production into tokens. The study further explores the simulation of tokenized energy transactions, encompassing buying and selling within the energy community. The final phase involves a comprehensive comparison of Besu and Quorum, evaluating their computational resource usage and performance metrics. The findings contribute to the comprehension of blockchain technologies within energy communities, offering valuable insights into the efficiency and suitability of BESU and QUORUM for tokenized energy transactions. Our research confirms that simulating an energy community scenario with 20 producers, trading energy via tokens, demonstrates no performance gap in terms of TPS and RPS between the two blockchains. However, at larger scales, Quorum appears to outperform Besu in terms of both TPS and RPS efficiency.