With the advancement of the smart grid, the current energy system is moving towards a future where people can buy what they need, can sell when they have excess and can trade the right of buying to other proactive consumers (prosumers). Although the first two schemes already exist in the market, selling the right of buying — also known as negawatt trading — is something that is yet to be implemented. Here we review the challenges and prospects of negawatt trading in light of recent technological advancements. Through reviewing a number of emerging technologies, we show that the necessary methodologies that are needed to establish negawatt trading as a feasible energy management scheme in the smart grid are already available. Grid interactive buildings and distributed ledger technologies, for instance, can ensure active participation and fair pricing. However, some additional challenges need to be addressed for fully functional negawatt trading mechanisms in today’s energy market.

随着智能电网的发展，当前的能源系统正在迈向一个未来，人们可以购买所需的东西，可以在多余的时候出售，可以将购买权交易给其他积极的消费者（生产者）。尽管市场上已经存在前两种方案，但出售购买权（也称为负电交易）的做法尚待实施。在这里，我们根据最新的技术进步来回顾负电交易的挑战和前景。通过回顾许多新兴技术，我们表明在智能电网中建立负电交易作为可行的能源管理方案所需的必要方法已经可用。例如，网格交互式建筑物和分布式分类帐技术，可以确保积极参与和公平定价。但是，在当今的能源市场中，要充分发挥作用，必须要应对一些其他挑战。