CAES Grid Integration Patent Snapshot 2026
The CAES grid integration patent space is still expanding on a multi-year basis, with a small but concentrated field where two players — Kobe Steel and LightSail Energy — account for the dominant share of activity. China is the primary filing jurisdiction, and gas-turbine plant integration (F02C) is by far the most active technical branch.
Kobe Steel leads a concentrated, early-stage field with a clear two-player top tier
Kobe Steel Ltd holds the top position with 14 patent records, followed closely by LightSail Energy Inc with 12. These two organizations together are visible in the upper tier of a field that spans 24 patent families in scope.
The top five filers account for 49% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating a high degree of concentration. Below the top two, Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute and Sigma Energy Storage each hold 4 patent records, forming a second tier that is meaningfully smaller than the leaders.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kobe Steel Ltd | 14 | |
| 2 | LightSail Energy Inc | 12 | |
| 3 | Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute Co Ltd | 4 | |
| 4 | Sigma Energy Storage | 4 | |
| 5 | CRANE STEPHEN E | 2 | |
| 6 | FONG DANIELLE A | 2 | |
| 7 | POURMOUSA ABKENAR AMIRHOSSEIN | 2 | |
| 8 | DemétAir Systems | 2 | |
| 9 | BERLIN EDWIN P JR | 2 | |
| 10 | Qube 4D Ventures Inc | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hangzhou Dianzi University | 2 | |
| 12 | Guizhou Power Grid Co Ltd | 2 | |
| 13 | Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 2 | |
| 14 | SAVEETHA INST OF MEDICAL & TECH SCI | 1 | |
| 15 | Xiamen University | 1 | |
| 16 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | 1 | |
| 17 | Zhongdian Huachuang Electric Power Technology Research | 1 | |
| 18 | Huaneng (Zhejiang) Energy Development Co Ltd | 1 | |
| 19 | Jiangsu Changshu Electric Power Generating | 1 | |
| 20 | Beijing Jineng Lanxi Technology Co Ltd | 1 |
The leaders’ positions suggest that both an industrial-equipment manufacturer (Kobe Steel) and a dedicated energy-storage startup (LightSail Energy) have staked out the core technology ground early, leaving limited room for fast-followers in the primary gas-turbine integration branch without differentiated approaches.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are likely under-counted due to standard patent publication lag; the 2025–2026 figures should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Multi-year growth continues despite eased annual volume; gas-turbine integration dominates the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition together reveal a field that has grown over the multi-year window but has not yet stabilized, with one IPC class absorbing the majority of inventive activity.
Annual filing trend
Filing activity rose from 2 records in 2017 to a first peak of 5 in 2019, pulled back in 2020–2021, then recovered to another 5-record year in 2023 before easing. The field is still expanding on a multi-year basis — the recent three-year window sits well above the prior three-year window — though annual volume has eased from its 2019 peak. The 2024–2026 bars are understated by publication lag and should not be read as a real decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F02C (gas-turbine plants) is the visible branch with 44 patent records, more than double the next class, F01K (steam and thermal power plants) at 21. H02J (power supply and grid systems) — the branch most directly tied to grid integration control — ranks third at 15 records, signalling that grid-interface electronics and control remain a secondary emphasis relative to thermodynamic machinery. Several adjacent branches each carry fewer than 10 records, pointing to selective but not comprehensive technical coverage.
↗ 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 | A waste heat recovery system combined with compres… | 49 |
| 5 | Compressed air energy storage system utilizing two… | 41 |
| 6 | 使用两相流以便于热交换的压缩空气能量存储系统 | 40 |
| 7 | Compressed air energy storage and recovery | 24 |
| 8 | Compressed air energy storage and power generation… | 19 |
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.
Kobe Steel Ltd
Kobe Steel holds 14 patent records, the highest count in the corpus, concentrated in F02C 6 (gas-turbine plants, 14 records), F02C 1 (gas-turbine plants, 7 records), and F28D 20 (heat-exchange apparatus, 5 records). This profile positions the company as the primary innovator in CAES-coupled gas-turbine integration with thermal management. No specific momentum trend figure is available for Kobe Steel in the evidence, but its overall record count reflects sustained filing activity.
14 patent recordsLightSail Energy Inc
LightSail Energy holds 12 patent records and spans gas-turbine (F02C 6, 12 records) as well as reciprocating-machine integration (F01B 23 and F01B 9, 11 records each), giving it the broadest technical footprint of any single filer. Its co-filing relationships with individual inventors suggest an inventor-driven, startup-style innovation model. Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute, the only entity with an applicant momentum signal, is flagged as a new entrant with recent filing activity.
12 patent recordsFrequently asked questions
There are 24 patent families in scope for CAES grid integration, representing a small but active niche within the broader energy-storage landscape.
Kobe Steel Ltd leads with 14 patent records, followed by LightSail Energy Inc with 12. These two organizations together account for the visible share of inventive activity in the corpus.
China is the primary filing jurisdiction with 18 patent records. Europe (EPO) and the United States each show 11 records, and WIPO (PCT) carries 6, reflecting international protection strategies by the visible assignees.
The field is classified as Growth. The recent three-year filing window is 38% above the prior three-year window, confirming multi-year expansion, though annual volume has eased from its 2019 peak. The most recent years are further understated by publication lag.
F02C (gas-turbine plants) is the visible branch with 44 patent records, reflecting the central role of turbine integration in CAES systems. H02J (power supply and grid systems), the branch most directly tied to grid-interface control, ranks third with 15 records.
F01D (turbines and non-positive engines) and F28D (heat-exchange apparatus) are relatively sparse given their technical importance to CAES architecture — holding only 14 and 9 patent records respectively. These branches may offer differentiated entry points for teams with expertise in expansion turbine mechanics or advanced thermal management design.
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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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