Published July 30, 2026 | Version CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
Journal article Open

Design and Evaluation of a Lightweight Blockchain Framework for Secure Decentralised Energy Trading in Smart Grids

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Department of Computer Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, 1069, Nigeria.

Contributors

Contact person:

  • 1. Department of Computer Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, 1069, Nigeria.
  • 2. Department of Computer Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
  • 3. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
  • 4. Department of Computer Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Description

Abstract: The increasing usage of distributed renewable energy resources has rapidly increased the transition to decentralised smart grids. This is where secure and efficient peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is crucial. However, conventional blockchain-based energy trading schemes suffer from high computational overhead, communication latency, and limited scalability, making them unsuitable for resource-constrained Internet of Things (IoT) networks. This research proposes a lightweight blockchain framework that incorporates Hyperledger Fabric with Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) consensus, ZigbeePro communication, and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)-based energy demand forecasting to facilitate secure and intelligent decentralised energy trading. The framework was evaluated using MATLAB/Simulink simulation, NS-3, Hyperledger Fabric, and a Raspberry Pi/ESP32 prototype. The results of the experiment show that the proposed framework achieved an average latency of 48.9 ms, throughput of 185 transactions per second, packet delivery ratio of 97.8%, and support for up to 250 IoT nodes while maintaining low energy overhead. The LSTM forecasting model attained an R² of 0.964 with a MAPE of 4.7%, delivering accurate demand prediction for intelligent energy allocation. Compared with centralised and Proof-of-Work blockchain models, the proposed framework enhanced communication efficiency, scalability, and security while reducing computational cost. These results demonstrated that integrating lightweight blockchain, low-power communication, and Artificial Intelligence-based forecasting provides a practical and scalable solution for decentralised energy trading for the next-generation smart grids.

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.35940/ijitee.I1286.15080726
EISSN
2278-3075

Dates

Accepted
2026-07-15
Manuscript received on 02 July 2026 | First Revised Manuscript received on 06 July 2026 | Second Manuscript Accepted on 11 July 2026 | Manuscript Accepted on 15 July 2026 | Manuscript published on 30 July 2026.

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