Digital Service Platforms for New Electrical Energy Services: Challenges and emergence of New Ecosystems

In the area of electrical energy services, the shift to a platform-based business model allows new companies to enter the energy industry. To be successful in the marketplace with modest resources, one must be market-aware, dynamic, and able to adapt to market changes. This may be more difficult for large, traditional suppliers than for new and “young” providers whose products and services are designed from the start to be totally digital. This is especially evident in the trend toward decentralized, distributed, and digitalized electrical energy services. The transition of electrical energy services into such models raises a number of sociotechnical issues that merit our attention. The thesis looks into the shift of electrical energy services toward platform and digital business models. In particular, the thesis responds to four research questions. • RQ 1 What are the challenges facing the transition to digitalized and platform-based business models in electrical energy services? • RQ 2 How can service platforms disrupt the decentralization of energy services? • RQ 3 How will this disruption impact the business and what has been done to achieve this decentralization? • RQ 4 How will these platforms emerge and survive as main driver for energy transition? The thesis is theoretically placed at the crossroads of information systems (IS) and energy informatics. Furthermore, the theoretical foundation of the thesis incorporates theories and concepts such as dynamic capabilities, service-dominant logic, and platform ecosystems. The thesis presents a detailed overview of what is involved in the shift of electrical energy services toward a digital and platform-based business model through a four-year embedded multiple-case study. The three cases were chosen to present a contrasting view of the occurrence. Case 1 focuses on the transition of renewable energy providers toward a digital business model reshaping themself as corporate startups and delivering tailored services for mobility, construction, and cooling. Case 2 is evaluating a DLT implementation in energy market demonstration in an EU project in Trondheim, Norway. Case 3 follows how an EV charging platform is surviving in a very complex ecosystem and how such platform ecosystem is emerging and evolving over the time. This thesis adds to a deeper understanding of the transformation of electrical energy services toward platform and digital-based business models based on the findings of the three examples. Th