A new study published by the European Patent Office (EPO) and International Energy Agency (IEA) charts the rapid growth of power grid technologies essential for decarbonization and energy transition.
The study –Patents for enhanced electricity grids– shows an extraordinary surge in patenting activity around 2009-2013 which has been maintained at a high level ever since. International patent families (IPFs) grew by 30% each year over that period, way ahead of the 12% annual growth for low-carbon energy technologies and 4% annual growth for all technologies overall. Over the whole period examined by the report (2001-2022), the number of IPFs relating to physical and smart grid infrastructure increased eight-fold, whereas they scarcely doubled for all technologies as a whole.
AI-related grid technologies grew sixfold since 2018
Patenting in physical grid electricity infrastructure remains strong, but most growth in the last decade has come from smart grid technologies, which now account for more IPFs than physical grid and storage technologies combined. The emergence of policy-driven markets and standards for smart meters and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure over a decade ago has helped to push innovation in smart grid technology, leading to grids which are more flexible and bi-directional. The most remarkable trend has been the increase in AI-related solutions – growing sixfold since 2018 – which are used for detecting faults, for example, as well as for anticipating demand so as to better manage supply.
Europe, Japan and US filed most IPFs, with China emerging
For much of the period considered by the study, companies, universities and research institutions from Europe, Japan and the US have been leading in the number of IPFs for grid technologies. Since 2019, applicants from P.R. China have dramatically increased their patent filings, bringing them to the same level as Europe by 2022, predominantly by focusing on smart grids and storage-related technologies.
Patenting trends for main regions (2001-2022; IPFs by year of first filing)
Major role for startups and public research organizations
Siemens (DE), ABB (CH) and General Electric (US) top the league table for IPFs in grid technologies. Five Japanese companies also make the Top 10, predominantly for their leading role in smart grid technologies, including Toyota which, along with Honda and the Ford Motor Company, show how major automotive companies are at the forefront for developing EV charging infrastructure. In P.R. China many applications are coming from the country’s public research organizations, as well from major industry players like Huawei. The majority of startups in this sector are located in Europe and the US, mostly contributing to hardware technologies (grid infrastructure and metering equipment). Over a third of the 1 085 startups identified in the cohort for this study have filed a patent application (37%), compared to a baseline of only 6% of European startups with patent applications.
Why innovation in electricity grids is central to the energy transition
In the last decade, demand for electrical energy has increased at twice the pace of global energy demand overall, contributing to an ever more urgent need for grids that connect often remote sources of renewable energy with the cities and factories that consume that energy. In addition to these challenges, existing grid infrastructure needs to be upgraded. For example, by 2030 over 1.7 million kilometers of older transmission lines need to be replaced – enough to wrap around the Earth’s circumference over 42 times.
Background
This is the fourth joint study by the EPO and IEA since 2020 looking at various aspects of the global energy transition driven by climate change. This particular study also includes contributions from experts at 13 national patent offices, coordinated by the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology. The contributing patent offices were: Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Monaco, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.
Each international patent family (IPF) covers a single high-value invention covered by patent applications filed and published at several patent offices. IPFs are a reliable proxy for innovation because they represent inventions for which the inventor considers the value sufficient to seek protection internationally.
Information source: https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/news/surge-inventions-electricity-grids
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