The Challenge:
Whether it’s the BNetzA, the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), or the GDPR: energy suppliers operate in a highly regulated environment. Every contract, every report, and every approval must meet the requirements.
Sector-Specific Signature Solutions
Use Case: Energy Suppliers
The energy sector requires the legally compliant signing of countless documents every day, including supply and feed-in agreements, grid connection requests, and internal authorizations. Simultaneously, energy utility companies face immense pressure from complex regulations, rising sustainability demands, and an expanding ecosystem of partners and customers.
Electronic signatures allow these processes to be managed efficiently, securely, and transparently. They cut down on administrative overhead, accelerate workflows, and ensure complete traceability, whether used in customer service, by the network operator, or in collaboration with government agencies and partners.
These are examples of documents you can digitally sign in the energy industry:
Contracts, permits, regulatory filings, and internal authorizations must be handled not just quickly, but also in a legally compliant and auditable way. Digital signatures provide the basis for efficient and secure workflows in this area.
They accelerate the exchange with customers, simplify cooperation with partners and authorities, and significantly reduce administrative effort within the company.
Typical use cases in the energy sector are, for example:
Contract Documents
Energy Supply Contracts (Electricity, Gas, District Heating)
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) / Direct Marketing Contracts
Grid Connection Agreements (incl. House Connections)
Metering Operation Contracts
Internal Documents & HR
Employment Contracts, Transfers & Target Agreements
- Work Instructions & Works Agreements
Approval of Investments and Project Decisions
Technical Documentation
Online Contract Closures / Tariff Changes
SEPA Direct Debit Mandates
Powers of Attorney & Consents
- Correspondence related to Move-ins and Move-outs
Regulatory and Technical Documents
- Market Communication with Grid Operators (e.g., GPKE, GeLi Gas)
EEG/CHP Act Notifications
- Inspection Reports & Permits
- Construction Acceptance Certificates & Grid Connection Documents
Your Benefits with SIGN8
Scalable to your needs
From simple use through the web app to seamless integration into your infrastructure, SIGN8 evolves with your requirements.
Widely compatible
You can use our TCI collaboratively, for instance, within associations or networks. A joint acquisition is also possible to pool your resources and reduce costs.
On-premises Options
With our on-premises features, you benefit from optimal performance and the highest security standards.
Agility
Our team is highly technical and quick to react, ensuring we can flexibly accommodate your specific needs. This includes handling special requests such as optional PKI expansions or complex integration projects.
We know the challenges you face
- High Regulatory Requirements
- Audit Trail Security & Traceability
- Multi-Level Approval Processes
- Hohe IT-Sicherheitsstandards
High Regulatory Requirements
Our solution:
Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) take this pressure out of the daily routine. They are eIDAS-certified and ensure that documents automatically comply with all legal standards.
Audit Trail Security & Traceability
The Challenge:
Decisions and authorizations must remain fully auditable and traceable for many years, regardless of whether they relate to investments, external audits, or internal inspections.
Our solution:
Every digital signature generates an immutable audit trail. This means that who signed or approved the document, and when, can be clearly proven at any time.
Multi-Level Approval Processes
The Challenge:
Approvals in the energy industry are rarely single-stage. Different roles, departments, and hierarchies make processes complex and slow.
Our solution:
Electronic signatures can be integrated into existing workflows and flexibly adapted to role models. This allows approvals to run in parallel rather than sequentially, and without any media disruption.
Hohe IT-Sicherheitsstandards
The Challenge: Highly sensitive data mandates maximum security. Many energy providers opt for on-premise or hybrid solutions to retain complete control over their IT infrastructure.
Our Solution:
Signing platforms built for the energy sector provide exactly this level of flexibility. Whether Cloud, Hybrid, or On-Prem. Businesses freely select the model that best fulfills their security requirements.
Future Opportunities & Potential in the Energy Sector
Digitalization in the energy sector is only just beginning, but many technologies offer enormous potential for greater security, efficiency, and user-friendliness. We’re thinking ahead and proactively preparing our solutions for future developments:
Digital Construction File
The Digital Construction File centralizes every project-related document – from initial contract and permit to the final sign-off sheet. Combined with e-signatures, every document version is legally secured and recorded. This gives you complete transparency across the structure’s full lifecycle and streamlines handovers and subsequent claims or verifications.
EUDI Wallet
With the introduction of the EUDI Wallet, new opportunities are opening up for the construction industry. Subcontractors, engineers, or project partners can securely prove their digital identity while legally signing documents. This significantly reduces the effort required for identity checks and facilitates cooperation in complex projects.
Blockchain-Based Verification of Evidence
A growing number of developers and investors require reliable data on sustainability and ESG criteria. By combining digital signatures with blockchain technology, construction companies can securely store tamper-proof evidence. This creates seamless, trustworthy proof for clients, authorities, and funding bodies.
Integration with BIM Systems
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is already standard in many construction projects. The integration of e-signatures enables digital plan approvals to be carried out directly within the model. This ensures that approval processes are seamlessly documented and plan versions are uniquely secured, eliminating media disruption and providing full traceability.
