CAES Demand Response Patent Snapshot 2026
The CAES demand response patent space is small and concentrated, with Energy Compression Inc holding a commanding lead and China the dominant filing jurisdiction. The field reached a plateau around 2021 and has since eased from that peak, though several adjacent branches in turbine control and grid systems remain sparsely covered.
Energy Compression Inc dominates a highly concentrated niche
Energy Compression Inc ranks first among all applicants, well ahead of LightSail Energy Inc at second and Kobe Steel Ltd at third — a tier gap that signals one organization has shaped the foundational IP in this space.
The top five filers account for roughly half of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined patent records, confirming a tight visible assignee structure where a handful of players have staked out the core technical ground.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Energy Compression Inc | 19 | |
| 2 | LightSail Energy Inc | 9 | |
| 3 | Kobe Steel Ltd | 8 | |
| 4 | Storage Drop Ltd | 5 | |
| 5 | HUAZHONG UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 4 | |
| 6 | Sigma Energy Storage | 4 | |
| 7 | HAVEL TIMOTHY F | 3 | |
| 8 | Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute Co Ltd | 3 | |
| 9 | CRANE STEPHEN E | 2 | |
| 10 | FONG DANIELLE A | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | POURMOUSA ABKENAR AMIRHOSSEIN | 2 | |
| 12 | BERLIN EDWIN P JR | 2 | |
| 13 | Qube 4D Ventures Inc | 2 | |
| 14 | Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 | |
| 15 | Hohai University | 1 | |
| 16 | Zhongdian Huachuang Electric Power Technology Research | 1 | |
| 17 | Huaneng (Zhejiang) Energy Development Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 18 | Shanxi Zhonghe Hengrui New Energy Technology Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 19 | Jiangsu Changshu Electric Power Generating | 1 | |
| 20 | INST OF ECONOMIC & TECH STATE GRID HEBEI ELECTRIC … | 1 |
The leaders’ positions imply that new entrants face a meaningful prior-art barrier in gas-turbine integration and thermal power-plant architectures, which are the visible technology classes across the portfolio.
Filings from approximately 2024 onward are likely under-counted due to standard patent-publication lag; any apparent reduction in the most recent periods should not be read as a confirmed slowdown. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2021 activity spike, followed by plateau, across gas-turbine-dominant classes
Annual filing volumes peaked in 2021 and have eased since, while the technology mix is anchored firmly in gas-turbine and thermal power-plant classes with selective coverage of grid and digital systems.
Annual filing trend
Filings rose sharply to a 2021 peak, then moderated through 2022–2024; 2025 and 2026 counts are incomplete due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a sustained further decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Gas-turbine plants (F02C) are visible in the branch mix, followed by steam and thermal power plants (F01K) and turbines (F01D); grid-systems (H02J) and digital/business-process classes (G06Q, G06F, G06N) represent a smaller but present layer, reflecting early integration of dispatch and scheduling logic.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
一种变速恒频压缩空气储能调峰系统及方法
一种变速恒频压缩空气储能调峰系统及方法，包括进线变压器（2）、变频器（4）、变频同步发电机（5）、压缩机（7）、第一离合器（91）、涡轮机（8）、第二离合器（92）、压缩空气储气罐（13）、燃烧室（11）及PLC控制器（6）；外界电网经进线变压器（2）及变频器（4）与变频同步发电机（5）相连接，压缩机（7）与变频同步发电机（5）通过第一离合器（91）相连接，涡轮机（8）与变频同步发电机（5）通过第二离合器（92）相连接；压缩机（7）的出口与压缩空气储气罐（13）相连通，压缩空气储气罐（13）与燃烧室（11）的入口相连通，燃烧室（11）的出口与涡轮机（8）的入口相连通；PLC控制器（6）与第一离合器（91）及第二离合器（92）相连接。 (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Combination of supercritical wet combustion and co… | 157 |
| 2 | Compressed air energy storage and recovery | 138 |
| 3 | Compressed air energy storage system utilizing two… | 110 |
| 4 | Adsorption-enhanced compressed air energy storage | 60 |
| 5 | Compressed air energy storage system utilizing two… | 41 |
| 6 | Compressed air energy storage and recovery | 24 |
| 7 | Compressed air energy storage and power generation… | 19 |
| 8 | 一种含风电、需求响应和压缩空气储能的电网调度方法 | 17 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Energy Compression Inc
Energy Compression Inc holds 19 patent records, the largest position in the corpus. Its technical focus centers on gas-turbine plant integration (F02C6 and F02C7) and steam and thermal power plant configurations (F01K25), covering both the compression and expansion stages of CAES systems. Applicant momentum data does not show a recent acceleration trend for this entity, consistent with an established rather than rapidly expanding portfolio.
patent records: 19LightSail Energy Inc
LightSail Energy Inc holds 9 patent records, positioning it as the closest challenger. Its technical emphasis differs from the leader: alongside gas-turbine classes (F02C6), it concentrates heavily on reciprocating machines and engines (F01B23 and F01B9), reflecting its isothermal or near-isothermal compression approach. Applicant momentum evidence for LightSail is not separately enumerated in the recent-entrant data, indicating a more established filing cadence.
patent records: 9Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 26 patent families in scope. This is a small, specialized niche within the broader energy storage and demand-response patent landscape.
Energy Compression Inc leads with 19 patent records, well ahead of LightSail Energy Inc at 9 and Kobe Steel Ltd at 8. The top five filers together account for roughly half of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined records.
China is the lead filing office, followed by EPO (Europe) and the United States. WIPO PCT filings are also present, indicating that some applicants are pursuing multi-jurisdictional protection.
The field is assessed at the Maturity stage. Annual filings plateaued near their 2021 peak and have eased since. The field is not in early growth, and core thermodynamic integration routes carry substantial prior art.
The grid-systems branch (H02J) and the turbines branch (F01D) are among the most notable: both have plausible relevance to CAES demand response but hold far fewer patent records than the visible gas-turbine class (F02C). Positive-displacement pumps (F04B) and reciprocating machines (F01B) also show relatively sparse coverage.
Yes. Timothy F. Havel co-files with Energy Compression Inc across 3 joint records, reflecting close inventor-company collaboration. In China, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has co-filed with State Grid Hebei Electric Power entities, indicating an academic-utility collaboration pathway focused on grid dispatch integration.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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