The electricity sector is experiencing a period of unprecedented change with factors such as the shift to low carbon energy and increasingly volatile fossil fuel markets creating challenging conditions for established utilities. Often seen as poorly equipped to meet these challenges, utilities must nevertheless innovate in order to address this squeeze, frequently referred to in terms of a “death-spiral” for incumbent firms. In this paper, we discuss different approaches to innovation, focusing particularly on the role of strategic networks in providing firms with cost-effective means to meet the challenges associated with issues such as shortening development cycles. We present some examples of how companies in the power sector are attempting to use these approaches and discuss the implications of this in terms of approaches to collaboration, capacity building and internal processes.
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