A Holistic Model for measuring Sustainable Performance generated by Innovative Projects: The ESCO Energy Transition Case

We are witnessing a paradigm shift to meet societal needs beyond conventional economic needs (Hepex, 2020). With the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations (UN, 2020), organisations and companies increasingly integrate corporate, societal, and environmental resilience into their strategy. Innovation is the engine that powers the global energy transition, as it is both systemic and interwoven. It provides momentum for new and formerly unexplored solutions for societal, economic, technological, and environmental challenges. A series of innovations – not only in technology but also in market designs, system operation and business models – are needed to enable the power sector transformation successfully and ultimately, the energy transition. Innovative solutions emerge from matching and leveraging synergies between various innovations across multiple power system components.

The necessary transition towards a zero-carbon economy reshapes our way of living and managing businesses and projects. Demographic growth and natural resource exploitation at increasing rates are environmental problems - a combination of heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, arctic vortex, and the snowmageddon - that worsen social issues such as health problems, extreme poverty, and social inequality (Pérez and Frank, 2019; Trouet, 2020). Many - environmental - problems are so-called wicked problems (Rittel and Webber, 1973). Societal resilience and adaptation strategies are essential for remaining competitive and to counter significant consequences for the climate (Vince, 2019). With energy demands rising, and high levels of fossil fuel use, greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere continue to increase, and CO2 is currently at nearly 412 parts per million (ppm) and still rising. This represents a 47% increase since the beginning of the Industrial Age (World Meteorological Organization, 2019). According to the IPCC report (2021), ‘human influence has warmed the climate at an unprecedented rate’. According to the International Energy Agency, it is necessary to transform the world’s energy system, and thus the energy community must be convinced to redirect energy investments and switch to low‐carbon development
The chapter is structured as follows: section 2 provides the conceptual framework from a multiple-level perspective and a holistic and systemic approach to innovation. The ongoing evolution towards new and sustainable energy business models is outlined. In section 3, an interpretive case study (Walsham, 2006) is presented: the “ESCO energy transition case”. Sections 4 and 5 provide the discussion, conclusions, and suggestions for future research.