Towards a Service-Oriented Energy Market: Current State and Trend

The energy sector, which has traditionally been an oligarchic closed one, is undergoing major changes at all levels. On the one hand, more and more players are authorized to produce, deal and transport energy (unbundling of the sector), while on the other hand, the traditional energy consumers are now in the position to also produce and trade energy. This new trend can be supported by Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) at both levels. In this paper, we look at the current situation of the energy sector, we overview SOA related technologies that are being adopted by energy stakeholders and we show how SOA can be the cornerstone for the successful unbundling of the energy arena, thus providing a more efficient infrastructure with both environmental and