Blockchain-Integrated Secure Authentication Framework for Smart Grid IoT Using Energy-Aware Consensus Mechanisms

Integrating IoT devices into smart grids raises some hard problems related to safe data sharing, the ability to grow, and energy use. Blockchain provides a safe way to check identities without a central authority. Typical ways to confirm transactions, like Proof-of-Work (PoW), use a lot of power, making them bad for devices that cannot use much energy. This study introduces a safe authentication system using Blockchain, a Deep Neural Network (DNN), and a power-saving way to confirm transactions (EACM). The system picks validators based on how much power they have left and their trust scores to save power during confirmation. Using the IoT-Enabled Smart Grid Dataset, simulations showed a transaction speed of 372 TPS, which is 32% better than normal methods. The system correctly authenticates 98.69% of the time, with a confirmation delay of 5.9 milliseconds and an 18% drop in validator node energy use. Also, the system spots 98.4% of unauthorized access tries, with a false acceptance rate (FAR) of 1.7% and a false rejection rate (FRR) of 0.31%. These outcomes prove the system's ability to offer safe, fast, and energy-saving authentication for big, real-time Smart Grid IoT setups.