The production and consumption of energy requires sustainable business models, especially for energy demanding companies. However, sustainability is a complex phenomenon, particularly in high-technology sectors, and requires the integration of diverse knowledge for sustainable innovation through a network of partnerships. Recent literature states that business model (BM) innovation, based on networks and partnerships, is crucial for sustainable development. The resource dependence theory (RDT) helps to explain how different levels of dependencies induce companies to create network linkages, transforming their BM for sustainability. Building alliances with other organisations provides a source of information, knowledge, and other resources to help solve complex problems. With evidence from a case study focusing on the green energy network in Italy, this research offers empirical evidence on how new forms of interdependencies arising within the network drive changes in the BM of firms by focusing on the three main BM elements: value proposition; value capture; and value creation and delivery. The network forces its participants to widen their definition of value and include value creation for both company and society as a BM goal. The network also allows for the sharing of new concepts, knowledge, and practices, thereby creating and reinforcing a different approach and creating new products or projects, based on new links among the participants, thus further consolidating the network. The evidence shows that networks help achieve sustainability goals by solving the problem of resource dependency; however, new resource dependencies on network partners, and the network itself, are seen to emerge. The results have implications for practitioners and future research on networks and sustainable business models.
