Blockchain-enabled business model innovation in sector-coupled energy communities
Zia Lennard · Open Research Europe · 2025
This paper analyses business model innovation and digital platform alignment—including blockchain-enabled remuneration and automated settlement—in sector-coupled energy communities. Drawing on six diverse pilot deployments, we explore how modular digital platforms and blockchain technologies can support peer-to-peer trading, flexibility services, and integration across electricity, heating, and mobility sectors. The methodology combines systematic value proposition mapping with technical and market analysis to assess real-world user needs, operational challenges, and regulatory barriers. The study contributes to theory by extending existing frameworks on digital transformation and business model innovation to decentralised, multi-actor energy systems, demonstrating how digital platforms and distributed ledgers enable iterative, data-driven adaptation of value creation and coordination mechanisms. The study also advances theory by showing how iterative co-design and distributed verification mechanisms translate digital transformation concepts into measurable governance and value-creation outcomes for energy communities. Findings show that blockchain and digitalisation can improve transparency and trust in community energy markets, but effective scaling requires regulatory adaptation, flexible business models, and sustained user engagement. The results provide actionable insights for both practitioners and policymakers aiming to advance digital innovation and business model alignment in the evolving landscape of energy communities.