Strategies for the development of offshore wind technology for far-east countries – A point of view from patent analysis

Abstract

In this research we explored the development of offshore wind technology through the evaluation of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). On establishing the landscape of offshore wind patents, the key trends of technical development were identified from the leading countries. Rather than a wind turbine itself, technologies related to engineering vessels, floating foundations, turbine installations, integration of multiple technologies, towers and mooring systems have been identified as the top priorities for development; they occupied around 59% of granted patents selected from USPTO and EPO. The cost decrease, improvement of equipment transport and improvement of installation are the most common targets to be achieved; they occupied 45% and 50% of the granted patents selected from USPTO and EPO, respectively. The trends of installing a wholly assembled wind turbine with specially designed support and transport systems have been observed in sectors of vessels and turbine installations; there are many patents of which the aim was to integrate other renewable technologies within an offshore wind-turbine platform to share the costs of production and construction. Although, since 2007, there are increasing numbers of patents related to floating foundations, no obvious tendency of a specific type of floating foundation and mooring system has been observed. With an increasing number of overlapping patents between USPTO and EPO after 2013, the functions of those technologies mentioned above become similar. Based on the observation from the portfolio of patents from the leading countries and the current status of development in far-east countries, specialized development strategies for far-east countries are proposed in this research.