Empowering Local Energy Communities with Blockchain-Based Federated Forecasting and Zero-Knowledge Proof Verification

Local Energy Communities (LECs) are gaining prominence as key actors in the transition toward sustainable and decentralized energy systems. A critical challenge for these communities lies in achieving energy self-sufficiency through effective forecasting of energy production and consumption. Accurate forecasting models are essential to support optimization and planning strategies. However, privacy concerns and regulatory constraints often limit the feasibility of centralized data-driven approaches, as users are understandably reluctant to share their consumption data. To address this issue, we propose a privacy-preserving forecasting framework based on Federated Learning (FL) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, which enables collaborative model training without disclosing raw user data. Building upon this core architecture, we further enhance transparency and user engagement by introducing Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) for secure inference verification, and a novel incentive layer based on dynamic Non-Fungible Tokens (dNFTs) and fungibile tokens. Our approach ensures model integrity, protects user data, and fosters sustainable behavior through verifiable, trustless reward mechanisms. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and potential of this architecture in supporting privacy-aware, decentralized energy forecasting within LECs.