IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v171y2016icp491-500.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local and regional energy companies offering energy services: Key activities and implications for the business model

Author

Listed:
  • Kindström, Daniel
  • Ottosson, Mikael

Abstract

Energy services play a key role in increasing energy efficiency in the industry. The key actors in these services are the local and regional energy companies that are increasingly implementing energy services as part of their market offering and developing service portfolios. Although expectations for energy services have been high, progress has so far been limited, and many companies offering energy services, including energy companies, are experiencing difficulties in implementing energy services and providing them to the market. Overall, this research examines what is needed for local and regional energy companies to successfully implement energy services (and consequently provide them to the market). In doing this, a two-stage process is used: first, we identify key activities for the successful implementation of energy services, and second, we aggregate the findings to the business model level. This research demonstrates that to succeed in implementing energy services, an energy company may need to renew parts or all of its existing product-based business model, formulate a new business model, or develop coexisting multiple business models. By discussing two distinct business model innovation processes, this research demonstrates that there can be different paths to success.

Suggested Citation

  • Kindström, Daniel & Ottosson, Mikael, 2016. "Local and regional energy companies offering energy services: Key activities and implications for the business model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 491-500.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:171:y:2016:i:c:p:491-500
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.092
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261916304226
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.092?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richter, Mario, 2012. "Utilities’ business models for renewable energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2483-2493.
    2. Morris, Michael & Schindehutte, Minet & Allen, Jeffrey, 2005. "The entrepreneur's business model: toward a unified perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 726-735, June.
    3. Okay, Nesrin & Akman, Ugur, 2010. "Analysis of ESCO activities using country indicators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 2760-2771, December.
    4. Wolfgang Ulaga & Werner Reinartz, 2011. "Hybrid Offerings: How Manufacturing Firms Combine Goods and Services Successfully," Post-Print hal-00642039, HAL.
    5. Deng, Qianli & Jiang, Xianglin & Cui, Qingbin & Zhang, Limao, 2015. "Strategic design of cost savings guarantee in energy performance contracting under uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 68-80.
    6. Bohnsack, René & Pinkse, Jonatan & Kolk, Ans, 2014. "Business models for sustainable technologies: Exploring business model evolution in the case of electric vehicles," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 284-300.
    7. Thollander, Patrik & Danestig, Maria & Rohdin, Patrik, 2007. "Energy policies for increased industrial energy efficiency: Evaluation of a local energy programme for manufacturing SMEs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5774-5783, November.
    8. Worrell, Ernst & Laitner, John A & Ruth, Michael & Finman, Hodayah, 2003. "Productivity benefits of industrial energy efficiency measures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1081-1098.
    9. Mahapatra, Krushna & Gustavsson, Leif & Haavik, Trond & Aabrekk, Synnøve & Svendsen, Svend & Vanhoutteghem, Lies & Paiho, Satu & Ala-Juusela, Mia, 2013. "Business models for full service energy renovation of single-family houses in Nordic countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1558-1565.
    10. Vine, Edward, 2005. "An international survey of the energy service company (ESCO) industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 691-704, March.
    11. Thollander, Patrik & Mardan, Nawzad & Karlsson, Magnus, 2009. "Optimization as investment decision support in a Swedish medium-sized iron foundry - A move beyond traditional energy auditing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(4), pages 433-440, April.
    12. Rudberg, Martin & Waldemarsson, Martin & Lidestam, Helene, 2013. "Strategic perspectives on energy management: A case study in the process industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 487-496.
    13. Shafer, Scott M. & Smith, H. Jeff & Linder, Jane C., 2005. "The power of business models," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 199-207.
    14. Marino, Angelica & Bertoldi, Paolo & Rezessy, Silvia & Boza-Kiss, Benigna, 2011. "A snapshot of the European energy service market in 2010 and policy recommendations to foster a further market development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6190-6198, October.
    15. Hannon, Matthew J. & Foxon, Timothy J. & Gale, William F., 2013. "The co-evolutionary relationship between Energy Service Companies and the UK energy system: Implications for a low-carbon transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1031-1045.
    16. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    17. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John & Sommerville, Matt, 2009. "Empirical estimates of the direct rebound effect: A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1356-1371, April.
    18. Satchwell, Andrew & Cappers, Peter & Goldman, Charles, 2011. "Carrots and sticks: A comprehensive business model for the successful achievement of energy efficiency resource standards," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 218-225.
    19. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    20. Sorrell, Steve, 2007. "The economics of energy service contracts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 507-521, January.
    21. Okkonen, Lasse & Suhonen, Niko, 2010. "Business models of heat entrepreneurship in Finland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3443-3452, July.
    22. Jaffe, Adam B. & Stavins, Robert N., 1994. "The energy-efficiency gap What does it mean?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 804-810, October.
    23. Suhonen, Niko & Okkonen, Lasse, 2013. "The Energy Services Company (ESCo) as business model for heat entrepreneurship-A case study of North Karelia, Finland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 783-787.
    24. Bertoldi, Paolo & Rezessy, Silvia & Vine, Edward, 2006. "Energy service companies in European countries: Current status and a strategy to foster their development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1818-1832, September.
    25. Gebauer, Heiko & Fleisch, Elgar & Friedli, Thomas, 2005. "Overcoming the Service Paradox in Manufacturing Companies," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 14-26, February.
    26. Henry Chesbrough & Richard S. Rosenbloom, 2002. "The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin-off companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 529-555, June.
    27. Dubois, Anna & Gadde, Lars-Erik, 2002. "Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 553-560, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katarína Remeňová & Jakub Kintler & Nadežda Jankelová, 2020. "The General Concept of the Revenue Model for Sustainability Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Lütjen, Heiner & Tietze, Frank & Schultz, Carsten, 2017. "Service transitions of product-centric firms: An explorative study of service transition stages and barriers in Germany's energy market," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 106-119.
    3. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Bertolotti, Matteo & Thollander, Patrik & Andersson, Elias, 2019. "Energy management: A practice-based assessment model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1614-1636.
    4. Lütjen, Heiner & Schultz, Carsten & Tietze, Frank & Urmetzer, Florian, 2019. "Managing ecosystems for service innovation: A dynamic capability view," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 506-519.
    5. Bertoldi, Paolo & Boza-Kiss, Benigna, 2017. "Analysis of barriers and drivers for the development of the ESCO markets in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 345-355.
    6. Lazar Gitelman & Mikhail Kozhevnikov, 2023. "New Business Models in the Energy Sector in the Context of Revolutionary Transformations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    7. Kangas, Hanna-Liisa & Lazarevic, David & Kivimaa, Paula, 2018. "Technical skills, disinterest and non-functional regulation: Barriers to building energy efficiency in Finland viewed by energy service companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 63-76.
    8. Yuan Chang & Xinguo Ming & Xianyu Zhang & Tongtong Zhou & Xiaoqiang Liao & Sijia Cao, 2021. "Servitization and Sustainable Value Creation Strategy for China’s Manufacturing Industry: A Multiple Case Study in the Belt and Road Initiative," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-28, October.
    9. Chen, Yu & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "How does infrastructure affect energy services?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    10. Lygnerud, Kristina & Ottosson, Jonas & Kensby, Johan & Johansson, Linnea, 2021. "Business models combining heat pumps and district heating in buildings generate cost and emission savings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    11. Brown, Donal & Hall, Stephen & Martiskainen, Mari & Davis, Mark E., 2022. "Conceptualising domestic energy service business models: A typology and policy recommendations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    12. Michael Hamwi & Iban Lizarralde, 2019. "Demand-side management and renewable energy business models for energy transition A systematic review," Post-Print hal-02448505, HAL.
    13. Monjurul Hasan, A S M & Trianni, Andrea & Shukla, Nagesh & Katic, Mile, 2022. "A novel characterization based framework to incorporate industrial energy management services," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Helms, Thorsten, 2016. "Asset transformation and the challenges to servitize a utility business model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 98-112.
    2. Monjurul Hasan, A S M & Trianni, Andrea & Shukla, Nagesh & Katic, Mile, 2022. "A novel characterization based framework to incorporate industrial energy management services," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    3. Bertoldi, Paolo & Boza-Kiss, Benigna, 2017. "Analysis of barriers and drivers for the development of the ESCO markets in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 345-355.
    4. Kangas, Hanna-Liisa & Lazarevic, David & Kivimaa, Paula, 2018. "Technical skills, disinterest and non-functional regulation: Barriers to building energy efficiency in Finland viewed by energy service companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 63-76.
    5. Töppel, Jannick & Tränkler, Timm, 2019. "Modeling energy efficiency insurances and energy performance contracts for a quantitative comparison of risk mitigation potential," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 842-859.
    6. Wenjie Zhang & Hongping Yuan, 2019. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Energy Performance Contracting Research from 2008 to 2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Polzin, Friedemann & von Flotow, Paschen & Nolden, Colin, 2016. "What encourages local authorities to engage with energy performance contracting for retrofitting? Evidence from German municipalities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 317-330.
    8. Wenjie Zhang & Hongping Yuan, 2019. "Promoting Energy Performance Contracting for Achieving Urban Sustainability: What is the Research Trend?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Pantaleo, Antonio & Candelise, Chiara & Bauen, Ausilio & Shah, Nilay, 2014. "ESCO business models for biomass heating and CHP: Profitability of ESCO operations in Italy and key factors assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 237-253.
    10. Omar Shafqat & Elena Malakhtka & Nina Chrobot & Per Lundqvist, 2021. "End Use Energy Services Framework Co-Creation with Multiple Stakeholders—A Living Lab-Based Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-24, July.
    11. Tereza Rogić Lugarić & Domagoj Dodig & Jasna Bogovac, 2019. "Effectiveness of Blending Alternative Procurement Models and EU Funding Mechanisms Based on Energy Efficiency Case Study Simulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, April.
    12. Qin, Quande & Liang, Fuqi & Li, Li & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2017. "Selection of energy performance contracting business models: A behavioral decision-making approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 422-433.
    13. Thollander, Patrik & Backlund, Sandra & Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico, 2013. "Beyond barriers – A case study on driving forces for improved energy efficiency in the foundry industries in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 636-643.
    14. Sven M. Laudien & Birgit Daxböck, 2016. "Path dependence as a barrier to business model change in manufacturing firms: insights from a multiple-case study," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 86(6), pages 611-645, August.
    15. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    16. Lu, Zhijian & Shao, Shuai, 2016. "Impacts of government subsidies on pricing and performance level choice in Energy Performance Contracting: A two-step optimal decision model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1176-1183.
    17. Nolden, Colin & Sorrell, Steve & Polzin, Friedemann, 2016. "Catalysing the energy service market: The role of intermediaries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 420-430.
    18. Fang, Wen Shwo & Miller, Stephen M. & Yeh, Chih-Chuan, 2012. "The effect of ESCOs on energy use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 558-568.
    19. Randhawa, Krithika & Wilden, Ralf & Gudergan, Siegfried, 2021. "How to innovate toward an ambidextrous business model? The role of dynamic capabilities and market orientation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 618-634.
    20. Engwall, Mats & Kaulio, Matti & Karakaya, Emrah & Miterev, Maxim & Berlin, Daniel, 2021. "Experimental networks for business model innovation: A way for incumbents to navigate sustainability transitions?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:171:y:2016:i:c:p:491-500. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.