مدل های کسب و کار کارآفرینی گرما در فنلاند

This paper presents the business models of small-scale heat energy production in Finland. Firstly, the development of heat entrepreneurship in the country is presented, including the remarkable growth of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the last 15 years. Secondly, the concept of business model (business architecture of product/service flows and earning logics) is modified to the framework of wood heat production. The business model concept, and its sub-concepts, is applied in a brief review of current heat energy businesses in Finland. We arrive at a business model of heat entrepreneurships that are public companies/utilities, public–private partnerships, private companies and cooperatives, Energy Saving Company (ESCO), network model of large enterprise and franchising. Descriptive cases of these models are presented. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion on the applicability of the business models in different operational environments and geographical contexts.

Renewable energy producers face challenges in designing business models that enable the cost-efficient and competitive production for substituting fossil fuel based energy systems. The capital invested in existing infrastructures of oil and gas, for instance, also results in the incumbent firms possessing significant market power causing lock-in effects in energy markets (Wüstenhagen and Boehnke, 2008). In addition, the switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy forms may mean lower costs for society, but not necessarily for the end-user of energy. Ready-made examples of applicable technologies and business models of renewable energy are needed because both technological and organisational developments in this sector are time and resource consuming (Wüstenhagen and Boehnke, 2008). Transferring of know-how and technologies between regions is not easy as processes are affected by several factors, such as operational and demand environments, transferred objects, stakeholders involved in the processes as well as the transfer media. However, the business models have several factors that are globally valid, (such as economies of scale and risk allocation), and the transfer and application of models is possible with certain preconditions. This paper is inspired by the existing business model ontologies, especially BMO ontology (Osterwalder, 2004), and constructs the heat energy business model concept based on existing business cases in Finland. The objective of the paper is firstly to construct a business model concept for heat energy business, and secondly, to apply the concept in a brief review of Finnish heat energy businesses. The results are case-derived heat energy business models including both descriptions of the business architecture and earning logics. The relevance of the presented business models is in increasing the understanding of heat energy businesses, and providing a framework in the design of new heat energy businesses in other contexts. As a future challenge, the authors also recognise the need to evaluate the economic performance of the presented business models.

5.1. Summary of the business models The presented business models are constructions applicable for transfers between regions with certain spatial preconditions (discussed in Section 5.2). As presented in the cases above and in the summary of the business models (Table 2), theoretical business models have related counterparts in practice. It is true that no pure counterparts are easy to find but rather there are aspects of the models appearing in several cases. The name of each model is then the most descriptive element of the case. The business architectures for the heat production varied between the cases. There were both investments (and ownership) by municipality and by entrepreneur/enterprise. The privatization of municipal heating service took place in Eno and Ilomantsi, and partly also in Pyhäselkä. The fuel supply chains also included both options of forest fuel and by-product flows. In most cases a large biofuel company, Vapo Ltd., was involved in the business. The by-product management (e.g. sawmill by-products in Nurmes and by-product heat of pellet plant in Ilomantsi) was also improving the business profitability. Defining the ownership and responsibilities was not investigated in detail; we referred to the main parts of the heat production contracts. In Nurmes and Pyhäselkä the municipalities' maintained control and ownership, while in Eno and Ilomantsi the role of the public sector is mainly that of a customer. Cases included several earning logics, i.e. strategies to generate and maintain profitable and sustainable business operations. Safeguarding the markets typically entail the inclusion of large and reliable customers, such as municipality (district heating) and sawmills (drying of timber). Scale economics and networking was found in the Ilomantsi case and subcontracting was used in some scale in all cases. Value added logics included both value added by the by-product management (Nurmes and Ilomantsi) and by holistic value chain management (Eno). A good example of complementary partnership was found in the Eno case, where the local cooperative utilizes the expertise of its members by sharing tasks and responsibilities. 5.2. Three steps in applying the business models The business models presented are aimed at raising new ideas and give new viewpoints to local, case-specific ways of action. The introduced business models of heat energy production can provide the starting point and general framework for new heat energy businesses and can be complemented with case-specific business planning.7 In the following three steps in applying the business models, we determine things that an entrepreneur should consider when starting a heat energy business and when applying the business models on a regional level. As a starting phase we assume that there is demand, i.e. interested customers for the heating services. Demand can also be ensured by involving large-scale customers, such as municipality (via district heating) or industrial enterprises. Step 1: Determining the business and profit targets When investing in the heating plant and the network, the entrepreneur should determine business and profit targets, related to following questions: • What is the entrepreneur’s objective? – Full-time or part-time entrepreneurship? • What is the level of risks the entrepreneur is ready to accept? • How much and for what time period is the entrepreneur ready to tie-up capital in investments? The objective sets the basis for entrepreneurship and business model that will be applied. The business risk can be shared for instance by joining into the network of a large company or franchiser, forming a public–private partnership, or establishing a joint cooperative. Financial risk can be reduced by including external financiers in the project. Tying-up of the capital is also an important factor, for instance in ESCO operations paybacks of investments in energy efficiency or renewable energy may be much longer than originally expected. Step 2: Designing the business architecture for product/service flows To design robust business architecture, the entrepreneur should ensure the availability of resources, including physical and human resources in the forms of • physical capital (money, external financing, raw materials, machinery, equipment, etc.), • supply chain structure and supporting infrastructure (transportation, storage, delivery, etc.), and • available business associates (e.g. business partners and subcontractors) needed in different business models (e.g. franchising or networks of large companies). • Human capital ○ In the establishment phase, the knowledge of cost-calculations, acquisitions and tendering, planning, contracts, available supporting measures, organising the fuel supply, technology and equipment, among others, is needed. ○ In the operational phase, the entrepreneur needs skills in using the equipment and machinery and organising the fuel supply and heat production. Step 3: Constructing the earning logics The earning logics, i.e. strategies to generate and maintain profitable and sustainable business operations, are dependent both on business and profit targets and business architecture. In cases of lack of resources, there are often many possibilities to find external financiers, complementary partnerships, networks or subcontractors for filling in the gaps, generating the economics of scale and improving both technical and economic reliability. Markets can be safeguarded for instance by creating local niche markets and forming long-term contracts. Earning logics are often case specific and evolutionary and can be modified according to the requirements of local actors, available resources, supply and demand conditions, competitors and organisations and institutions. By appropriately designing the business model (both business architecture and earning logics) heat energy enterprise can tune its operation to produce renewable energy in a competitive and cost-efficient manner.