PatentsforenhancedelectricitygridsAglobaltrendanalysisofinnovationinphysicalandsmartgridsDecember2024PATENTSFORENHANCEDELECTRICITYGRIDSepo.org|02ForewordsAsrecentlyemphasisedinMarioDraghi’slandmarkreport,takingtheleadinnewcleantechnologiesandacceleratingtheenergytransitionawayfromfossilfuelsarekeyconditionsforEuropetosecurethecompetitivenessofitseconomy.Significantprogresshasalreadybeenachieved:Europeisproducingrecordlevelsofrenewableenergy,andelectricity-poweredvehiclesorheatpumpsarebeingdeployedonacontinentalscale.Thesetrendsmakeitevermoreurgenttoalsoinvestinsmarterandmoreflexibletransmissionanddistributionnetworksthatcaneffectivelybalancethegrowingdemandforpowerwithnew,variablesourcesofenergy.Inthiscontext,producingreliableintelligenceonavailabletechnologyoptionsrelatedtoinnovationtrendsiskeyforsupportingrobustbusinessandpolicydecisions.ThisisalsopartoftheEPO’sstrategiccommitmenttosustainability.Thisstudy–thefourthofitskindundertakenincollaborationwiththeIEAsince2020–addressesinnovationtrendsinpowergrids.CombiningtheenergyexpertiseoftheIEAwiththeEPO’spatentknowledge,ithighlightsspecificallythedisruptiveimpactofdigitaltechnologiesinthatfield,andthedeeptransformationstakingplaceinacentury-oldindustryasaresult.Becausepatentinformationistheearliestpossiblesignalofindustrialinnovation,thisreportoffersauniquesourceofintelligenceonacomplexandfast-movingtechnologylandscapethatisreachingnewheightsofstrategicimportancetodecision-makersaroundtheworld.Patentprotectioniskeyforinnovatorstotransformresearchintomarket-readyinventions.Patentsenableenterprisesanduniversitiestoreaptherewardsoftheircreativityandhardwork.AsthepatentofficeforEurope,theEPOprovideshigh-qualitypatentstoprotectinnovationsinupto45countries(includingallEUmemberstates).Europeanpatentsarenotonlyforlargemultinationalcompanies.Theyarealsokeytohelpingsmallbusinessesraisefunding,establishcollaborationsandeventuallyscale.Thestudyisaguideforpolicymakers,regulatorsandoperatorstoanticipatetechnologicalchange,assesstheircomparativeadvantageindifferentsegmentsofthepowerdistributionindustry,anddirectresourcestowardspromisingoptions.DrawingontheEPO’suniquelycuratedandconsolidatedevidencebase,itintroducesnovelpatentdatasearchstrategiestoassessthemodernisationdynamicsaffectingthecomponentsandarchitectureofenergyinfrastructure,includingitsphysicalandsmartdimensions.Itshedslightonthepathwaysopeninguptoinnovativecompaniesandtheresearchsectorastheycontributetolong-termsustainablegrowth.ItbenefitedfromthesupportoftwelvepatentofficesinvolvedintheenergytransitionactivitiesoftheEPO’sObservatory,namelyAustria,BosniaandHerzegovina,theCzechRepublic,Finland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Monaco,Netherlands,Spain,Sweden,andTürkiye.Theresultsrevealadramaticaccelerationofinnovationingridstechnologiesinthelastfifteenyears,pavingthewayforanewageofpowernetworks,capableofseamlesslysensingandmanagingmyriadsofelectricaldevices.TheyalsohighlightthemajorcontributionofEuropetothistransformation,thusunderlyingtheopportunityforenergytransitionswithinEuropeanindustries–startupsandlargecompaniesalike.Importantly,thisreportalsoremindsusallofthecompetitivenatureofinnovationincleantechnologies:theglobalraceforsmartergridtechnologiesison,andhasevenacceleratedinrecentyearsthankstotheincreasedimpactofartificialintelligenceandsmartEVcharging.Bygivingdecision-m...