The power industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by rising energy demand, renewable integration, and the need for grid stability and resilience, and growing importance of technologies such as price elasticity, weather and demand response/load analysis, and renewable generation predictive modeling. In the last three years alone, there have been over 656,000 patents filed and granted in the power industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in power: power generation forecasting. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 70,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the power industry, there are 40+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Power generation forecasting is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
To reduce the uncertainty inherent in demand and power supply, power system operators rely on power generation forecasting for balancing the demand and supply of electricity. Power generation forecasting is a crucial and cost-effective tool that predicts the amount of electricity to be generated by power generation resources such as wind or solar. Power generation forecasting utilizes a combination of weather forecasts and satellite data, to generate accurate predictions of power generation in the near future.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 40+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established power companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of power generation forecasting.
Key players in power generation forecasting – a disruptive innovation in the power industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to power generation forecasting
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| State Grid Corporation of China | 75 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Siemens AG | 32 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Southern Power Grid Co Ltd | 21 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dominion Energy Inc | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sun Electric Pte Ltd | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC Corp | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Clean Power Research LLC | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| International Business Machines Corp | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Hebei Electric Power Supply Co Ltd | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Oracle Corp | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| IHI Corp | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsara Inc. | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Furukawa Co Ltd | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sony Group Corp | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ABB Ltd | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Caterpillar Inc | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| General Electric Co | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Vestas Wind Systems AS | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| AMETEK Inc | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Arizona Board of Regents | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Green Power Labs Inc | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Taiwan Power Co Ltd | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Enel SpA | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Schneider Electric SE | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Eaton Corporation Plc | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| LG Corp | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Energy Saving Service Ltd | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Microsoft Corp | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Applied Underwriters Inc | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Qingdao Topscomm Communication, Inc. | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hangzhou Power Supply Company State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid NARI Nanjing Control System Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Qingdao Power Supply Company Of State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Huaneng Group Technology Innovation Center Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Xiamen Epgis Information Technology Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Kingsoft Corporation Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| North China Branch of State Grid Corporation of China | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Intel Corp | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Shijiazhuang Changshan Textile Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Huaneng Power International Inc | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Three Gorges Corp | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Huaneng Group Co Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dongfeng Motor Corp | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hwasung Co., Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Uni-President China Holdings Ltd | 1 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) is one of the leading patent filers in power generation forecasting. The company’s core business includes the construction and operation of power grids. It focuses on research and development of ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission and smart grid technologies. SGCC owns proprietary intellectual property rights and promotes the export of technology and related equipment. It also operates large-scale commercial UHV projects. SGCC supplies power to municipalities, provinces, and autonomous regions, servicing most of the territory in China. Some other key patent filers in the automotive industry include Siemens, China Southern Power Grid, and Dominion Energy.
In terms of application diversity, LG leads the pack, while Vestas Wind Systems and Hwasung stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Dominion Energy held the top position, followed by Sun Electric and Clean Power Research.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the power industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial intelligence (AI) in Power.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
