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This article examines the case of a Chinese firm that has upgraded to lead firm position in the global biomass power plant industry mainly through acquisitions of technological frontier firms in Denmark. Sustaining the lead firm position was, however, challenged by difficulties in developing innovative capability. Drawing on the literature on (i) firm-level technological capability and (ii) knowledge transfer in international acquisitions, we explain the reasons for insufficient innovative capability building. Based on these empirical findings, we suggest maintaining the existing upgrading framework but applying it analytically in a more flexible manner that avoids linearity, hierarchy and segmentation while stressing the co-existence of and inter-relationships between the different types of upgrading.

This study examines Vietnam’s representation and engagement in global renewable energy research through a bibliometric lens, with a focus on collaborative frameworks, publication dynamics, and thematic orientations. Using a dataset of 491 publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, bibliometric techniques were employed to analyze research output, co-authorship patterns, keyword relationships, and bibliographic linkages. Visualization via VOSviewer indicated key trends and knowledge clusters. Since 2011, Vietnam has received growing attention in regard to renewable energy research, primarily through its inclusion in regional and comparative studies. The literature primarily focuses on economic development, environmental sustainability, and energy consumption, with solar energy technology constituting the most frequently examined topic. However, scholars have paid limited attention to wind and hydropower technologies. The involvement of research organizations remains concentrated among a small group of domestic and international studies; meanwhile, detailed research insights into how collaboration, knowledge transfer, and technological spillovers operate in Vietnam are lacking. This study offers a new bibliometric perspective on Vietnam’s role in global renewable energy research. The results offer valuable guidance to researchers and policymakers seeking to enhance Vietnam’s research visibility, improve its capabilities, and increase its involvement in sharing energy information. Mapping Renewable Energy Research in Vietnam: Trends, Gaps, and Collaboration Vietnam has strong potential for renewable energy, particularly solar, wind, and hydropower. Over the past decade, research in this field has grown quickly, but until now there has been no comprehensive overview of how this work has developed. This study uses bibliometric analysis, a method that reviews and visualizes large groups of publications, to examine 491 research papers on renewable energy in Vietnam. The analysis looks at publication trends, research themes, institutional participation, and international collaboration. The results show that studies have increased sharply since 2014, with most focusing on solar energy and environmental issues. Research on wind, biomass, and hydrogen energy remains limited. International collaboration is a major strength, with foreign scholars often partnering with leading Vietnamese institutions, which has improved research quality and global visibility. This study highlights both achievements and gaps in Vietnam’s renewable energy research. It suggests that future work should connect technology, policy, and economics more closely, expand into underrepresented energy sources, and diversify publication formats to improve knowledge sharing. Strengthening these areas will help Vietnam’s research community support the national energy transition and contribute to global sustainability goals.

The strong focus in climate negotiations on the transfer and diffusion of technologies as a means to mitigate and adapt to climate change has entailed various programs to promote the transfer and diffusion of climate technologies, including the Technology Needs Assessment project (TNA). Despite the technology focus in the project, practice shows that the questions of what a technology is and how the key concepts of technology transfer and diffusion should be understood and operationalized remain diffuse. This paper explores the reasons for this by analysing the experience of the TNA project in using a framework for categorizing technologies according to the types of markets and non-markets in which they are diffused. While the framework has contributed to a higher degree of ‘market literacy’ among national stakeholders, four challenges in categorizing technologies have been identified: i) technologies comprising varying degrees of software, orgware and hardware; ii) technologies appearing as whole systems of production; iii) technologies covering different application markets; and iv) technologies situated on a continuum between research, development and diffusion. These challenges are proxies for the challenges in formulating plans of actions for technologies. If, due to a lack of conceptual clarity, it is not clear to countries whether the diffusion of a specific technology should be implemented by a project or by means of an enabling framework, the measures proposed in the action plans may be misleading. We therefore call for an increased focus on clarifying the technology concept in the training for the next generation of TNAs.

This article utilises a GVC analytic framework to analyse the wind energy value chain in South Africa and its impact on localisation of goods and services. Its theoretical contribution highlights governance as dependent on system integration dynamics, with lead firms operating as system integrators. The empirical analysis focuses on the interplay between energy and industrial policy showing how policy failure, driven by coal-based vested interests, disrupted system integration and undermined the renewable energy programme. The failure to ensure continuity and predictability of the auction bidding process within energy policy cascaded down the wind energy chain negatively impacting industrial policy attempts to localise domestic and foreign enterprises. This also derived from the South African government failing to prioritise, develop, and embed renewable energy as a green economy strategy within its industrial policy framework. We conclude with the following lessons: (a) GVC dynamics and lead firms cannot be ignored if localisation is to take root; (b) green strategies should be mainstreamed within industrial policy; (c) localisation starts with lead firms encouraging follower sourcing of first tier suppliers; (d) localising domestic value-added services is just as important as developing manufacturing enterprises.

Issue Title: Governance, enabling frameworks and policies for the transfer and diffusion of low carbon and climate adaptation technologies in developing countries