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This paper investigates the energy service companies (ESCOs) in China from the perspective of technological capability (TC) development. The conventional capability development model of manufacturing in emerging economies has been adapted to examine the four dimensions of TC (investment, production, linkage and innovation) through a qualitative analysis of multiple case studies. Small and medium-sized private ESCOs can perform well based on investment and production capabilities to develop energy management software competence. Large state-owned ESCOs can develop more advanced linkage and innovation capabilities and serve large-scale businesses with more specialist services. For small and medium-sized ESCOs, competitiveness, customers and related business strategy are the primary drivers of TC development. These drivers are essential for large ESCOs, but government support and pressure are also important. The framework developed can be used to research ESCOs and other service providers in other developing countries. • Energy Service Companies have different levels of technological capabilities. • The development of these capabilities is driven mainly by internal factors. • The basic technology level depends on investment and production capabilities. • Development starts with the investment and production of simple technologies. • The advanced technology level requires linkage and innovation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-structured Energy Management Maturity Models (EMMMs) are advanced and easy-to-use energy management (EM) approaches for energy management systems (EnMSs), providing both qualitative metrics and improvement guidelines. And the metrics serve the most valuable role. To furnish the users in different contexts (regional or industrial) with optimal applicability, an EMMM should deliver the most specific, precise, and valid metrics. It requires the latest explorations of this domain to evolve from the existing prototypes and keep improving the theoretical hypotheses about EM maturation, particularly for emerging economies like China. Accordingly, this study attempts to propose a highly practice-based Energy Management Maturity Model for China (EMMM-China), intending to make twofold contributions to this domain. For the methodological perspective, this study has demonstrated a set of highly referable strategies to felicitously formulate a model's metrics. A solid knowledge base for deducing hypotheses, encompassing both EM imperfections and good practices, was crucially constructed by taking in empirical experience from scientific literature and over 70 domestic cases. On this basis, five maturity levels and four maturation phases were justifiably defined. To validate the reliability of the model, three industrial cases were repeatedly assessed by EMMM-China in a longitudinal study design. And for the outcome perspective, EMMM-China serves as a new ISO 50001-based model for global users. The High Level Structure (HLS) of ISO 50001:2018 and numerous widely recognized success factors for EM were both adopted. With extended knowledge that goes beyond EnMS standards, EMMM-China enables long-term applicability to even certified organizations. The proposed model is believed to work on China and other emerging economies as a referable meta-approach. • A comprehensive strategy to construct a solid knowledge base was demonstrated. • Energy management practices in China were characterized by massive domestic cases. • A maturity model based on ISO 50001:2018 was proposed for China and other emerging economies. • Five maturity levels were justifiably defined, along with four maturation phases. • The model was validated through a longitudinal study of three industrial cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]