Floating Wind Turbine for Desalination Plants Patent Landscape
Floating Wind Turbine for Desalination Plants Patent Landscape in 2026
A small set of specialist firms and one major OEM dominate a 136-family corpus that reached peak annual volume in 2022 and has since plateaued. Lone Gull Holdings and Siemens Gamesa together account for roughly two-fifths of the top-hundred filers’ combined output, signalling high concentration in a field that is still expanding on a multi-year basis even as recent annual intake has eased from its 2022 peak.
Lone Gull Holdings and Siemens Gamesa lead a highly concentrated field
Lone Gull Holdings Ltd ranks first with 30 patent families, separated by only one family from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS at 29. Innovator Energy LLC holds third place at 21, followed by the University of Malta at 13 and Floating Windfarms Corp at 11.
The top five filers collectively hold 75% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, a concentration level unusual even for an emerging technology niche. The tier gap between the top five and the next five — Zero E Technologies LLC, Frew Hldg BV, Sailwint GmbH, Costas Dan Nicolaus, and University of Virginia. Patent Foundation, each with two to five families — is wide enough to limit near-term challenges to the leaders’ positions.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 30 | |
| 2 | Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | 29 | |
| 3 | Innovator Energy LLC | 21 | |
| 4 | University of Malta | 13 | |
| 5 | Floating Windfarms Corp | 11 | |
| 6 | Zero E Technologies LLC | 5 | |
| 7 | Frew Hldg BV | 3 | |
| 8 | Sailwint GmbH | 3 | |
| 9 | Costas Dan Nicolaus | 3 | |
| 10 | University of Virginia Patent Foundation | 3 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Dehlsen Associates of the Pacific Ltd | 2 | |
| 12 | Arup IP Management Ltd | 2 | |
| 13 | Equinor Energy AS | 2 | |
| 14 | Robert Miller Maguire | 2 | |
| 15 | Pao Yih Ho Michael | 2 | |
| 16 | National Institute of Technology Manipur | 1 | |
| 17 | Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 1 | |
| 18 | Barnickel Ing. Nils Juri | 1 | |
| 19 | University of Massachusetts | 1 | |
| 20 | Baird James Russell | 1 |
The dominance of purpose-built specialists (Lone Gull, Innovator Energy, Floating Windfarms, Zero E Technologies) alongside a large OEM (Siemens Gamesa) and an academic institution (University of Malta) reflects a field where independent inventors and small companies have so far set the IP agenda, and major energy corporations have only recently entered.
Patent publication typically lags filing by 18–24 months, so the 2024–2025 data are likely undercounted; the corpus scope is global with the. United States as the leading filing office. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2022 peak followed by a plateau, anchored by wind-turbine and marine technology
Two charts together describe the field’s pace and technical scope: the annual filing trend reveals the growth arc and its recent easing, while the technology composition shows how broadly inventors are combining wind, marine, water-treatment, and power disciplines.
Annual filing trend
Annual family filings climbed from 2 in 2017 to a peak of 45 in 2022, then receded sharply to 8 in 2023 before a partial recovery to 15 in 2024. The 2023–2025 bars are subject to publication lag and should be read as floors rather than final counts. The multi-year window still shows positive growth of 17% relative to the prior period, consistent with a field that has plateaued near its peak rather than entered structural decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F03D (wind motors) is the anchor class, appearing in 100 records. F03B (hydraulic machines) at 69 and B63B (ships and marine vessels) at 57 reflect the floating-platform engineering layer. C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and C25B (electrolytic production, covering hydrogen and brine electrolysis) each appear in 19 records, confirming that desalination and energy-conversion chemistry are present but remain secondary to the mechanical and marine engineering core. H02J (power supply and grid systems) at 15 rounds out the main technical axes.
↗ 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.
A floating metal platform
A floating metal platform for supporting an offshore installation includes three elongated elements. Each elongated element includes a first elongated member; a second elongated member parallel to the first elongated member; and at least a first buoyancy element connected to the first elongated member and the second elongated member. Each elongated element… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Offshore wind turbine and associated systems and m… | 54 |
| 2 | Offshore Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine and Associated… | 53 |
| 3 | Hydrogen production and conveyance system | 45 |
| 4 | Offshore vertical-axis wind turbine and associated… | 37 |
| 5 | Wind and wave desalination vessel | 28 |
| 6 | Hydro-pneumatic engery storage system | 28 |
| 7 | Aparatus for converting wave energy | 23 |
| 8 | Hydro-pneumatic energy storage system | 22 |
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.
What the structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of high concentration, plateauing annual volume, no recorded co-filing activity, and a US-dominant filing footprint shapes where incremental R&D spend is likely to generate differentiated IP.
Field at plateau — annual volume eased from its 2022 peak
The lifecycle evidence places this field at the Maturity stage: annual filings plateaued near their 2022 peak of 45 families and have since eased. The multi-year growth rate remains positive at 17%, indicating the total corpus is still expanding, but the rapid ramp of 2019–2022 has not been sustained. New entrants face an increasingly charted IP landscape, making differentiation harder in the core F03D and B63B classes.
Lifecycle: MaturityTop five hold 75% of the leading-hundred filers’ output
With the top five filers — Lone Gull Holdings, Siemens Gamesa, Innovator Energy, University of Malta, and Floating Windfarms — holding 75% of the top-hundred combined total, the field is effectively oligopolistic. The gap to the second tier (two to five families each) is large. Challengers seeking to enter must either develop genuinely novel architectures or target the under-served adjacent branches where incumbent density is lower.
High concentrationNo co-filing activity recorded — an ecosystem yet to form
Evidence pending: no co-applicant filing pairs are recorded in scope. The absence of co-filing links suggests the field has not yet developed the university-industry or cross-company research consortia common in more mature offshore-energy sectors. This may reflect the early specialist character of the dominant filers, or simply that collaboration is occurring informally. Either way, an entrant offering consortium IP structures could find receptive partners.
No co-filing detectedUS-dominant filing with meaningful EPO and PCT coverage
The United States is the leading jurisdiction with 53 records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 24 and WIPO (PCT) at 23. Australia at 12 and Vietnam at 8 reflect coverage in regions with high desalination demand. Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, and India each hold four records. China appears at only 2 records, a notable gap given Chinese activity in both offshore wind and desalination domestically. Filing in water-stressed markets such as the Middle East and North Africa is not visibly represented in the evidence.
US-led, global gapsGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Lone Gull Holdings and Siemens Gamesa lead with distinct technology emphases
The two leading filers diverge sharply in technical focus: Lone Gull Holdings anchors in hydraulic-machine and marine-vessel engineering, while Siemens Gamesa concentrates on wind-turbine systems with a secondary reach into water treatment. Both entered or surged in recent years from very different starting points.
Lone Gull Holdings Ltd
Lone Gull Holdings leads the corpus with 30 patent families, concentrated in F03B 13 (hydraulic machines, 27 records), B63B 25, and B63B 27 (marine vessel configurations, 13 records each). This profile reflects a floating-platform-first approach where wave and hydraulic energy conversion is central. Recent momentum shows a 60% decline in the latest period versus the prior window, suggesting the initial filing campaign has slowed and the portfolio is now in consolidation.
families: 30Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS
Siemens Gamesa holds 29 patent families and is classified as a new entrant in the recent period, meaning all or nearly all of its families were filed in the most recent filing window with little to no prior-period base. Its technical focus is F03D 9 (wind turbines integrated with other energy systems, 23 records) and F03D 13 (offshore wind turbines, 18 records), with a secondary reach into C02F 1 (water treatment, 6 records) — the most direct desalination linkage among the top filers. Its rapid emergence as co-leader makes it the most significant new force in the field.
families: 29| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | 8 | ▼ -60% |
| Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | 21 | ▲ new entrant |
| Innovator Energy LLC | 18 | ▲ new entrant |
| University of Virginia Patent Foundation | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant wind and marine classes
Several IPC classes appear in fewer than 20 records despite having direct technical relevance to floating wind-powered desalination; these represent relatively sparse areas compared with the dominant F03D and B63B classes, though they are observations of current filing density rather than confirmed commercial opportunities.
C02F · Water & wastewater treatment — desalination process IP
C02F appears in only 19 records, representing roughly 5% of the IPC record base, despite being the most directly relevant class to the desalination output side of these systems. The top-cited patents reference ‘Wind and wave desalination vessel’ and water treatment (C02F 1 is present in Siemens Gamesa’s and Innovator Energy’s portfolios), yet the class remains sparse relative to wind-turbine and marine-vessel classes. An entrant with process chemistry or membrane engineering expertise could file in C02F with relatively low incumbent density. Search string: ‘floating offshore wind reverse osmosis desalination membrane’.
Search this in Eureka →H02J · Power supply & grid systems — offshore islanded power architecture
H02J appears in 15 records, representing roughly 4% of the IPC record base, covering power management for offshore or islanded desalination microgrids. As floating wind-desalination systems move toward commercial scale, power conditioning, energy storage dispatch, and grid-interconnect IP become critical. Innovator Energy holds H02J 15 filings, but the class overall remains thinly occupied. Engineers working on control systems, battery-hybrid architectures, or hydrogen buffer storage have a plausible entry path here. Search string: ‘floating wind desalination offshore microgrid power management H02J’.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ across technology routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | F03B 13 · Hydraulic machines & engines | F03D 13 · Wind motors (wind turbines) | F03D 9 · Wind motors (wind turbines) | B63B 35 · Ships & marine vessels | B63B 1 · Ships & marine vessels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | Absent | Strong · 18 | Strong · 23 | Emerging · 3 | Absent |
| Lone Gull Holdings Ltd | Strong · 27 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 1 | Absent |
| University of Malta | Strong · 13 | Emerging · 2 | Strong · 8 | Absent | Absent |
| Innovator Energy LLC | Strong · 19 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Sailwint GmbH | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Strong · 2 | Strong · 3 |
| Frew Hldg BV | Absent | Strong · 3 | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 136 patent families in scope. The United States is the leading filing office with 53 records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 24 and WIPO (PCT) at 23.
Lone Gull Holdings Ltd leads with 30 patent families, followed closely by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS at 29 and Innovator Energy LLC at 21. The University of Malta holds 13 and Floating Windfarms Corp holds 11.
Annual filing volume peaked at 45 families in 2022 and has eased since. The multi-year window still shows 17% growth relative to the prior period, so the total corpus continues to expand, but the rapid ramp of 2019–2022 has not been sustained. Data for 2023–2025 are subject to publication lag and should be treated as undercounts.
F03D (wind motors and wind turbines) is the anchor class, appearing in 100 records. F03B (hydraulic machines and engines) appears in 69 records and B63B (ships and marine vessels) in 57, reflecting the floating-platform engineering layer. C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and C25B (electrolytic production) each appear in 19 records.
No co-applicant filing pairs are recorded in the evidence. The field appears to have developed through independent specialist filers rather than formal industry-university or cross-company consortia. This may represent an early-stage ecosystem characteristic.
China appears in only 2 records despite significant domestic offshore wind and desalination activity. There is no visible filing in Middle Eastern or North African jurisdictions, which are among the highest-demand desalination markets globally. Vietnam at 8 records and Australia at 12 are better represented, likely reflecting offshore wind resource and water-stress factors in those markets.
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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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