# Trading local solar power via blockchain

> Austrian utility Energie Steiermark collaborated with Powerledger to deploy the smartCOMMUNITY energy monitoring and trading platform. The system allows residential and commercial customers to track energy consumption and exchange surplus rooftop solar power directly with local peers. Following an initial trial with solar-equipped households in Graz, the blockchain-based platform was transitioned into commercial use for regional green energy sharing.

**Sector:** Secondary sector · **Industry:** Energy utilities · **Organisation:** Energie Steiermark, Powerledger · **Maturity level:** Production

Canonical URL: https://www.sapientblock.com/en/use-cases/energie-steiermark-lokalen-solarstrom-blockchain-handeln

## Documentation status

- **Project status:** Production
- **Evidence:** Evidence medium
- **Editorial review:** pending

## Description

Energie Steiermark, together with Powerledger, is deploying a blockchain-based platform to enable customers to trade local solar power directly. The solution, called smartCOMMUNITY, digitally connects electricity producers and consumers within a region. This allows households and businesses to transparently track their energy flows and achieve economic benefits through regional use.

With the smartCOMMUNITY platform, Energie Steiermark and Powerledger address the increasing decentralisation of electricity generation in Austria. The system was released for broader use following a successful pilot project with ten solar-powered households in Graz. Generation data from smart meters is processed via the underlying blockchain technology to automate and secure peer-to-peer trading against tampering. Users gain insight into their energy balance and can optimise their own consumption as well as sell surplus capacity within the community. The project serves as a practical example of how traditional energy suppliers can establish new business models for decentralized producer communities.

## Benefits

- New service and platform offering for decentralized energy communities
- Reduced administrative effort in handling small electricity volumes
- Additional income through direct sale of surplus solar power
- Transparent sourcing of certified green electricity from the neighbourhood
- Tamper-proof recording and billing of decentralized energy flows
- Promotion of regional consumption of locally generated solar energy
- Greater market transparency through timely access to production data
- Fewer clarification cases thanks to automated smart contract billing
- More efficient data reconciliation between metering points and transaction ledgers

## Challenges

- Adaptation to changing legal frameworks for energy communities
- Training effort for end customers in operating digital trading dashboards
- Need for comprehensive deployment of digital smart meters
- Complexity in integrating with existing energy industry backend systems
- Training requirements in handling distributed ledger technologies and new support requests

## Technology foundation

The platform is based on Powerledger's blockchain architecture, which is specifically optimised for automated peer-to-peer electricity trading and energy data monitoring. Transactions and billing between decentralized producers and consumers are documented tamper-proof and transparently via distributed ledgers.

## Sources

- [smartCOMMUNITY by Energie Steiermark – Case study overview](https://powerledger.io/clients/smartcommunity-by-energie-steiermark/)
- [Blockchain-enabled energy trading launched in Austria](https://www.enlit.world/library/blockchain-enabled-energy-trading-launched-in-austria)
- [Powerledger and Energie Steiermark Launch the First of Its Kind Energy Trading Platform](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/powerledger-energie-steiermark-launch-first-164200883.html)
- [Power Ledger starts blockchain pilot with Austrian energy utility](https://www.ledgerinsights.com/power-ledger-blockchain-austrian-energy-utility/)