SCALING UP THE INNOVATION PROCESS IN THE ENERGY SECTOR ON THE BASIS OF TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The liberalization of the energy sector, the spreading adoption of digital information and telecommunication technologies, decentralization, and expansion of RES-based distributed generation provide broader development opportunities for technology entrepreneurship in the industry. Nevertheless, the energy sector remains one of the “least entrepreneurial” industries of the global economy – both by number of corporate innovations and by number of independent startups. Having summarized a corpus of theoretical research and the results of a survey of energy experts, the authors were able to describe fields of applications and key barriers to the development of technology entrepreneurship in the industry and at a corporate level. On the basis of an analysis of the experience of US and British energy companies, the authors propose typical models of technology entrepreneurship and schemes of resource interaction among energy companies, consumers of new products and services, universities, developers and investors in the course of implementation of breakthrough projects. The results of the study and the authors’ recommendations can be used by energy companies creating corporate mechanisms of technology entrepreneurship, as well as by government agencies and universities for the development of the innovation infrastructure of the energy sector.