Networked sustainable business model innovation and sustainable energy transitions: A case study of incumbent Chinese manufacturers in 2010–2022

• A networked sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) by incumbent power-generating equipment manufacturers and generators is tested. • The networked SBMI can accelerate transitions only in segments where incumbent manufacturers gain a competitive edge. • Complete scrapping of coal power-generating equipment manufacturing capacity accelerates transitions. The sustainability transition literature has paid scant attention to incumbent generation equipment manufacturers, constituting a complementary element in electricity systems. To fill this research gap, this study develops the concept of networked sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) as an analytical framework to explore how incumbent manufacturers change business models in response to changes in incumbent power generators and how these changes influence transitions in electricity systems. Based on case studies of three major Chinese incumbent power generation equipment manufacturers, our findings reveal that the networked SBMI by incumbent power generators and power generation equipment manufacturers can accelerate transitions to RES-E-based electricity systems in the segments where incumbent power generation equipment manufacturers have the capabilities to reorient and gain a competitive edge in the market. However, incumbent power generators can resume coal power projects unless incumbent power generation equipment manufacturers completely scrap coal power equipment production capacities.