Analysis of the advanced turbine system program on innovation in natural gas technology

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of a U.S. government-sponsored research program on advanced natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) innovations in the 1990s. From 1992–2000, the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) partnered with turbine manufacturers General Electric (GE) and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (SWPC) in a cost-sharing partnership called the Advanced Turbine System program to promote efficiency innovations for NGCC technology. Using data from the European Patent Office’s worldwide patent database (PATSTAT), this study evaluates advanced turbine technology innovations by the program participants and their competitors. Using a negative binomial model, this approach shows GE increased the relative quantity of their patents towards the end of the program and afterwards, indicating the program led to more advanced NGCC innovations for GE. SWPC, on the other hand, had higher patent citations for patents filed during the DOE program relative to competitors, indicating SWPC had higher-quality advanced NGCC innovations due to new partnerships from the U.S. DOE program. However, this analysis reveals there was not a lack of this activity taking place before the program started, and that the overall impact of the program appears small based on the patent analysis.