1. Business models

Every company has a specific business model [1]. The model is an expression of the firm's business logic. The business model adopted by a company is its answer to questions about the value delivered to customers, the ways in which it is delivered, and the financial implications [2]. It addresses value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture. [3]. Value proposition is a mechanism to offer created value to the market [4]. It refers to the products and services offered by the company [2,5]. It is targeted at a specific customer segment and concerns the benefits that the firm offers its customers [6]. Value proposition is also the setting up of a specific type of relationship between a company and its customer segment (e.g. personal, automated). [6]. Value creation is the mechanism that allows the goods and services produced to take on value. [4]. Value creation is rooted in a company's potential, its resources, its activities, established partnerships and the characteristics of its technology and products. Value creation is the creative combination of what a company's employees can do with what the company has at its disposal [4–6].  Value delivery is the ways in which a firm interacts with its customers [2].  It describes how, through communication, distribution and sales channels, the value created is delivered to the target market segment [4,6]. Value capture, on the other hand, is a company's ability to benefit from the value that has been created [4]. Value capture takes place in the market [7]. Value capture is the revenue stream generated by the business and its cost structure [2]. In business management, the category of value therefore becomes crucial. Value is considered both from the perspective of the customer and a specific organisational architecture or economic dimension [8]. In their basic shape, business models take the form of traditional business models.

The shape of business models is influenced by technological advances. It often results in changes to existing business models [9]. Technological change stimulates the creation of new solutions - product, process, organisational [1]. Technological progress therefore has an impact on the innovation processes taking place in companies [10]. A company's survival in the market is determined by its ability to adapt its business model to the changing environment, to modify or replicate it [11]. This is because businesses need to constantly evolve and adapt to the changing environment [12]. As a result, in many companies, traditional business models are transforming and taking the form of innovative business models [3]. Innovation can be about proposing value or/and creating value or/and delivering value or/and capturing value.

Innovative business models can contribute to the implementation of sustainable business practices in a company [13]. Sustainable business practices are linked to the concept of sustainable development. Sustainability is a process in which meeting the needs of society today, does not limit the ability to meet its needs in the future [14]. The economic process in an enterprise should therefore be organised in such a way that the exploitation of the natural environment does not limit its future growth opportunities.  In such a model of business development, the technologies used, investment directions or exploitation of resources should be of a sustainable nature [15]. In practice, the creation of a sustainable business model in a company, or the transformation of the current business model into a sustainable one, requires the alignment of all elements of the business model with the concept of sustainability - assessed through the 3 p's (people, planet, profit) [5]. A sustainable business model can be said to exist when value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture are sustainable. The implementation of sustainable business models in companies is linked to technological, social and organisational innovation [16].  Three groups of sustainable business models can thus be distinguished, namely: technological, social and organisational [17]. 

2. The European Green Deal and the functioning of energy companies

Sustainable business practices are, on the one hand, a response to changes in societal expectations or technological advances, and on the other, they are created as a consequence of specific economic regulations adopted by public institutions [18]. The task of economic regulation is to protect the public [19]. As a result of climate change and environmental degradation, the European Commission has adopted a package of economic regulations (the European Green Deal). The aim of the adopted package is to reduce and then eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions. The package of legislative proposals points to EU climate, energy, transport and taxation policies [18]. The following economic regulations and initiatives are of particular importance for the operation of energy companies: European Climate Law; European Industrial Strategy; Roadmap for a Circular Economy; Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy [20]. The European Green Deal aims to transform the European Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. The European Union aims to decouple economic growth from resource consumption [18].

As a result of the economic regulations adopted, the energy sector in Poland is being transformed. Currently, the basis for electricity production is lignite and hard coal, which is obtained from domestic resources. However, the ongoing transformation of the Polish energy sector is resulting in an increase in the share of renewable energy sources in electricity production. This assumes ensuring the competitiveness of the economy and energy efficiency. Polish energy policy also draws attention to the need to reduce the environmental impact of the energy sector. The National Energy and Climate Plan also emphasises the need to make optimum use of one's own energy resources. According to the National Energy and Climate Plan, a significant role of coal will be maintained in the structure of energy carriers. In doing so, the government assumes the diversification of energy carriers. This diversification will take place through a continuous increase in the share of renewable energy sources (mainly wind power and photovoltaics) in the energy mix and the introduction of nuclear power into the mix [21]. The energy transformation in Poland is to be low-carbon in nature. It is to be based on innovation, social acceptability, respect for the environment and the climate. This assumes an active role for the end user and domestic industry [22]. The energy and climate documents prepared at Polish level are in line with the basic assumptions of energy policy formulated by the European Union [21]. As a result of the implementation of the assumed objectives, there will be a radical change in the way of doing business in energy companies in Poland. The European Green Deal activities directly translate into activities undertaken in companies to change existing business models. These models adapt many sustainable business practices.

3. Research findings and conclusions

The research problem undertaken in this paper concerns the shaping of the business model in an energy company as a consequence of the implementation of the European Green Deal. The research problem focuses on determining the relevance of the European Green Deal for the shaping of the business model in an energy company.  

The study seeks answers to the questions:

- What relevance does the European Green Deal have for the business model of the energy company under study?

- Which elements of the business model of the energy company under study are sustainable?

- In what direction is the energy company's business model evolving?

The following research statements were adopted:

- Economic regulations in the area of the European Green Deal lead to changes in the business model of the studied energy company,

- The studied energy company is aiming for sustainable production through the implementation of sustainable business practices.

The subject of this research is the business model of the Tauron Capital Group (Poland). The business model is analysed in the context of the requirements for climate protection formulated in the European Green Deal.

The Tauron Group's business model includes the mining of raw material for energy production, energy generation, energy distribution and sales [23]. Coal units dominate the Group's energy mix [23–25]. The European Green Deal, which emphasises the climate neutrality of the economy, is therefore of key importance for the functioning of the Tauron Group. This is because it is necessary to point to the European Union's policy in the area of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, programmes for the ecological transformation of enterprises, measures for the development of a circular economy or action programmes for the production of clean energy [20,26,27].  The Tauron Group's response to the assumptions of the European Green Deal is the Tauron Green Return. As a result of the adoption of Tauron's Green Return, there are changes in the group's business model. Renewable energy sources are being developed. In the Tauron Group, measures are being taken to change the energy mix. Sustainable business practices are also being implemented [25]. In the Tauron Group, sustainable business practices are found to a greater or lesser extent in each element of the business model. For the value proposition, the Tauron Group is developing energy production from renewable sources. It also offers a service to connect prosumer installations to the grid. In terms of value creation, on the other hand, the key resources and activities are gradually related to low- and zero-carbon assets. Examples include the expansion of wind and photovoltaic power plants, the modernisation of hydroelectric power plants, or the implementation of circular economy principles (e.g. reducing waste generation, saving water in technological processes). Energy consumers are becoming key partners through prosumer installations. The Tauron Group also uses modern environmentally friendly technologies in its production processes. In the case of value delivery in the area of distribution, the modernisation and expansion of the distribution network is progressing in order to increase its efficiency and the possibility of connecting more renewable sources to the system. In terms of sales, it is important to note that energy consumers are becoming producers and consumers of energy through prosumer installations. On the other hand, in the case of value capture, the share of revenues from the sale of energy obtained from renewable energy sources is steadily increasing in the Tauron Group's revenues. [25]. It can therefore be assumed that the Tauron Group's business model is currently innovative in nature with elements of sustainable business practices. However, the Tauron Group's business model is evolving towards a technologically sustainable business model. This is supported by the actions taken by the company within the framework of the Tauron Green Return [25]. These activities result from both initiatives taken at the level of the Tauron Group, as well as economic regulations adopted at the European and, consequently, national level. These regulations force energy companies to improve their energy efficiency, they also translate into better waste management and the expansion of renewable energy sources. In addition, attention should also be drawn to the Polish government's announcements aimed at separating coal-fired generation assets from state-owned companies (e.g. Tauron). [28]. The implementation of these announcements would undoubtedly contribute to faster changes in the Tauron Group's business model.

At this point, however, the question must be asked about the profitability of a technologically sustainable business model in the case of the Tauron Group?  After all, a far-reaching expansion of renewable energy sources and a radical change in the energy mix will entail enormous costs. The profitability of the newly created business model will therefore depend on a number of factors that are not within the competence of the Tauron Group, but relate to legal solutions, technological progress and the availability and cost of acquiring new technical solutions. A full assessment of the newly created business model of the Tauron Group will therefore be carried out in a decade's perspective.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]}

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/en15114059