Business models of young firms operating in renewable energy technologies: innovation strategies and context perception

Abstract

This paper focuses on the behaviour of new technology-intensive firms (NTIFs) in the process of developing research-based renewable energy technologies, and introducing them into the market. Our main assumption is that the introduction of new energy technologies is closely connected with the creation of a variety of small technology-intensive firms that are the conveyors of these technologies and act as challengers to the statu quo. We adopt a business model framework to study value creation by NTIFs, taking into account the context, where policy options, obstacles and opportunities impact the action and outcomes of the companies. The framework is applied to a group of 28 Portuguese NTIFs in several renewable energy areas. Further work will explore the potential both of the conceptual and analytical frameworks introduced here, and the array of interesting data collected in the research.