General Business Model Patterns for Local Energy Management Concepts

Emanuele Facchinetti,Sabine Sulzer

doi:10.3389/fenrg.2016.00007

Emanuele Facchinetti, Sabine Sulzer

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2016.00007

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Abstract

The transition towards a more sustainable global energy system, significantly relying on renewable energies and decentralized energy systems, requires a deep reorganization of the energy sector. The way how energy services are generated, delivered and traded is expected to be very different in the coming years. Business model innovation is recognized as a key driver for the successful implementation of the energy turnaround. This work contributes to this topic by introducing a heuristic methodology easing the identification of general business model patterns best suited for Local Energy Management concepts such as Energy Hubs. A conceptual framework characterizing the Local Energy Management business model solution space is developed. Three reference business model patterns providing orientation across the defined solution space are identified, analyzed and compared. Through a market review a number of successfully implemented innovative business models have been analyzed and allocated within the defined solution space. The outcomes of this work offer to potential stakeholders a starting point and guidelines for the business model innovation process, as well as insights for policy makers on challenges and opportunities related to Local Energy Management concepts.

Highlights

The diffusion of decentralized energy systems is expected to provide a significant contribution toward a more sustainable global energy system and to the achievement of the international greenhouse gases reduction targets (Viral and Khatod, 2012; IEA, 2014)
The conceptual business model solution space defined in the previous section is meant to support the Energy Hub business model innovation process at early stages
Potential stakeholders should determine the portion of the defined business model solution space more suitable for their intended Energy Hub concept through the selection of the most appropriate general business model pattern(s)

Summary

Introduction

The diffusion of decentralized energy systems is expected to provide a significant contribution toward a more sustainable global energy system and to the achievement of the international greenhouse gases reduction targets (Viral and Khatod, 2012; IEA, 2014). The recent adoption of the Energy Union strategy (European Commission, 2015a), with the aim to fully integrate the internal energy market, represents a major step ahead toward the transformation of Europe’s energy system. The major driving forces behind the growth of distributed generation are: the liberalization of electricity and gas markets, facilitated by the significant cost reduction for information and communication technologies (ICT); the trend toward energy services densification driven by the increasing urban density; the significant increase of the intrinsically distributed renewable energy; and the avoidance of new high voltage transmission lines (Viral and Khatod, 2012; Allan et al, 2015). The distributed generation development is expected to provide major impacts on

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