Floating Wind Turbine for Offshore Platforms Patent Landscape
Floating Wind Turbine for Offshore Platforms Patent Landscape in 2026
The floating offshore wind turbine field is moderately concentrated, with the top five filers accounting for 38% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, and activity peaked in 2022 before easing to a plateau. Exponential Renewables SL and the University of Maine share the lead, while the United States remains the primary filing jurisdiction.
Dual leaders at the top, moderate concentration across a broad applicant field
Exponential Renewables SL and the University of Maine are joint top filers, each with 26 patent families, followed closely by Subsea 7 Norway AS with 24 and Hitachi Ltd with 21. The top five filers together hold 38% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, indicating moderate — not extreme — concentration.
A clear first tier of four players (26–26–24–21 patent families) sits above a secondary cluster ranging from 17 down to 4 patent families. The tier gap is real but not insurmountable, and the breadth of applicants — spanning energy services firms, construction contractors, universities, and OEMs — signals that no single entity has locked up the field.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exponential Renewables SL | 26 | |
| 2 | University of Maine | 26 | |
| 3 | Subsea 7 Norway AS | 24 | |
| 4 | Hitachi Ltd | 21 | |
| 5 | Innovator Energy LLC | 17 | |
| 6 | Kyoto University | 12 | |
| 7 | Toda Corporation | 12 | |
| 8 | Freia Offshore AB | 10 | |
| 9 | University of Ulsan Foundation for Industry-Academic Cooperation | 9 | |
| 10 | Alen Co Ltd | 9 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Technip Energies France SAS | 9 | |
| 12 | Aker Solutions AS | 8 | |
| 13 | TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY | 7 | |
| 14 | Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS | 6 | |
| 15 | Stiesdal Offshore AS | 6 | |
| 16 | Saipem SA | 5 | |
| 17 | ABB (Switzerland) AG | 5 | |
| 18 | Esteyco SA | 4 | |
| 19 | Soletanche Freyssinet SAS | 4 | |
| 20 | Atkins Energy Inc | 4 |
The joint leadership of a Spanish renewables specialist and a US research university, rather than a global turbine OEM, reflects the field’s still-emerging commercialisation stage and the strong role of public-funded research in building foundational IP. Industrial challengers such as Subsea 7 Norway AS and Hitachi Ltd are positioned to convert early IP into project-scale execution.
Filings from the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and are likely under-counted; the apparent dip in 2023–2025 should not be read as a structural decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2022 filing peak, easing volume, and a dominant hull-and-turbine technology core
Two charts together characterise the field’s pace and technical scope: the annual filing trend reveals how activity has evolved since 2017, and the IPC class breakdown shows where innovation effort is concentrated and where adjacent branches remain thin.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew from 5 in 2017 to a peak of 62 in 2022, then eased to 19 in 2023 and 23 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 figures are incomplete due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a further decline. The field is best described as having plateaued near its 2022 high rather than entering a structural retreat.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B63B (Ships and marine vessels) and F03D (Wind motors) together dominate the composition, consistent with the field’s core focus on floating hull design integrated with turbine systems. F03B (Hydraulic machines), H02J (Power supply and grid systems), and H02G (Installing power and signal cables) each have materially smaller representation, pointing to auxiliary and grid-integration functions as comparatively under-patented branches.
↗ 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.
Floating offshore wind turbine integrated with ste…
A floating offshore wind turbine integrated with a steel fish farming cage mainly includes a wind turbine, a wind turbine tower, a living quarter, a floating wind turbine foundation in a conic steel structure, a mooring system, a lateral net encircling the floating wind turbine foundation, a bottom net, and lifting systems. The upper end of the wind turbine… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravity-based energy-storage system and method | 50 |
| 2 | Self-installing column stabilized offshore wind tu… | 46 |
| 3 | Wind Turbine with Floating Foundation and Position… | 37 |
| 4 | Offshore Floating Structures | 36 |
| 5 | Gravity-based energy-storage and method | 27 |
| 6 | Wind Power Generation System | 26 |
| 7 | Floating support structure for offshore wind turbi… | 25 |
| 8 | Rocket launch platform stabilization system | 24 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D strategy
The combination of a near-peak lifecycle, moderate concentration, active academic-industry collaboration, and US-led jurisdiction coverage shapes the strategic options available to entrants and incumbents alike.
Field has plateaued near its 2022 peak
Annual filings have plateaued near their peak, placing the field at a mature stage of the innovation cycle. Core hull-and-turbine integration concepts are well covered; new entrants will find it harder to secure broad foundational claims and should focus on differentiated sub-systems or geographies with lighter filing density.
Lifecycle: MaturityModerate concentration with a broad challenger tier
The top five filers hold 38% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, but 20 applicants are visible in the top-ranked list and range from pure-play offshore specialists to construction contractors and universities. This breadth suggests the competitive frontier is still open in specific sub-domains, particularly those adjacent to the dominant B63B/F03D core.
Top-5 share: 38%Hitachi–Toda–Kyoto University triangle dominates co-filing
The most active co-applicant pairings identified are Hitachi Ltd with Toda Corporation (12 jointly filed families), Hitachi Ltd with Kyoto University (12 families), and Toda Corporation with Kyoto University (12 families). This triangular consortium is the field’s dominant collaborative cluster, reflecting a structured Japanese industry-academia partnership on floating wind. Teams seeking co-development partners may find this cluster largely occupied and should look to the broader applicant field for open collaboration opportunities.
Co-filing clusterUS leads; Europe and PCT routes provide broad coverage
The United States is the primary filing jurisdiction, followed by EPO (Europe) and WIPO PCT, then the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and India. Norway, a key offshore wind market, registers a smaller but notable presence. China holds only 2 records in the corpus, suggesting limited protection coverage in what is an increasingly active offshore wind deployment market — a potential gap for applicants seeking global portfolio breadth.
Lead office: USGo 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.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Hitachi Ltd | Toda Corporation | 12 |
| Hitachi Ltd | Kyoto University | 12 |
| Toda Corporation | Kyoto University | 12 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Exponential Renewables and University of Maine lead; Innovator Energy is the fastest-rising challenger
The top-ranked applicants divide into an established hull-and-turbine integration cluster and a smaller group of new entrants with differentiated technical emphases. Momentum data reveals the field is not static.
Exponential Renewables SL
Joint top filer with 26 patent families, Exponential Renewables SL is identified as a new entrant in recent filing momentum — meaning its current portfolio is concentrated in the recent window, signalling rapid recent build-up from a small prior base. Technical emphasis spans mooring and anchoring systems (B63B 21), turbine control (F03D 7), and floating support structures (F03D 13), covering the integration layer between hull and turbine.
patent families: 26Innovator Energy LLC
Ranked fifth with 17 patent families, Innovator Energy LLC is also identified as a new entrant in the momentum analysis, with 15 families in the recent window — one of the strongest recent-period surges in the corpus. Its technical focus is distinctively differentiated: primary emphasis on hydraulic machinery (F03B 13), water treatment (C02F 1), and grid energy storage (H02J 15), suggesting a multi-output offshore platform strategy that integrates wind, water, and power functions beyond pure turbine generation.
patent families: 17| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| University of Maine | 6 | ▼ -70% |
| Exponential Renewables SL | 13 | ▲ new entrant |
| Subsea 7 Norway AS | 6 | ▼ -65% |
| Innovator Energy LLC | 15 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant hull-and-turbine core
Several IPC classes appear in the corpus but at substantially lower filing density than B63B and F03D. These branches are observations of relative sparsity; where technical value and a plausible entry path exist, they warrant closer investigation.
H02J · Power supply and grid integration
H02J accounts for 23 patent records against 217 for B63B and 202 for F03D — a 4% share of the composition. Grid integration is a known commercialisation bottleneck for floating wind: dynamic cable management, dynamic power export, and islanded microgrid operation for multi-function platforms are technical problems with limited IP coverage here. Applicants with offshore grid or power electronics expertise could file into this branch with relatively low crowding from the dominant hull-and-turbine players. Innovator Energy LLC is a notable exception, already active in H02J 15 (grid energy storage).
Search this in Eureka →C02F · Water and wastewater treatment
C02F holds 16 patent records — a 3% share — suggesting that desalination and water processing co-located on floating offshore wind platforms remains a sparse area. The concept of using surplus offshore wind power for green hydrogen or desalination is technically plausible and referenced in Innovator Energy’s own filing strategy (C02F 1 is their second-ranked focus class). The low overall filing count means the freedom-to-operate landscape is relatively open, though commercial viability depends on platform economics that are still maturing.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across hull, turbine, and auxiliary systems
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | F03D 13 · Wind motors (wind turbines) | B63B 35 · Ships & marine vessels | B63B 21 · Ships & marine vessels | F03D 9 · Wind motors (wind turbines) | B63B 39 · Ships & marine vessels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maine | Strong · 18 | Strong · 14 | Absent | Strong · 13 | Strong · 19 |
| Subsea 7 Norway AS | Strong · 14 | Strong · 16 | Strong · 18 | Strong · 11 | Absent |
| Hitachi Ltd | Strong · 13 | Strong · 9 | Strong · 11 | Strong · 16 | Moderate · 6 |
| Kyoto University | Strong · 8 | Absent | Moderate · 6 | Strong · 12 | Moderate · 6 |
| Toda Corporation | Strong · 8 | Absent | Moderate · 6 | Strong · 12 | Moderate · 6 |
| Freia Offshore AB | Strong · 10 | Strong · 10 | Strong · 10 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 257 patent families in scope. This is the total count of distinct patent families identified for this technology topic globally.
Exponential Renewables SL and the University of Maine are joint top filers with 26 patent families each, followed by Subsea 7 Norway AS (24 families) and Hitachi Ltd (21 families). The top five filers collectively account for 38% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total.
The United States leads with 75 patent records, followed by EPO (Europe) with 55, WIPO PCT with 34, the United Kingdom with 25, and Australia and Germany each with around 14–15. China has only 2 records in the corpus, indicating limited protection coverage in that market.
The field is assessed as Mature: annual filings peaked at 62 in 2022 and have since plateaued. The most recent years (2023–2025) show lower figures, but this partly reflects publication lag and should not be read as a structural decline. The multi-year filing trend remains significantly above the 2017 baseline of 5 families.
The most active co-applicant network is a Japanese industry-academia triangle: Hitachi Ltd co-filed with both Toda Corporation and Kyoto University (12 jointly filed families each), and Toda Corporation co-filed with Kyoto University (12 families). This represents the field’s dominant collaborative cluster.
Relative to the dominant hull (B63B) and turbine (F03D) classes, the branches H02J (power supply and grid systems), H02G (installing power and signal cables), E02B (hydraulic and waterway engineering), and C02F (water and wastewater treatment) each have substantially lower filing density — in the range of 3–4% of the composition — and may represent areas with lower IP crowding for targeted new filings.
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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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