The 5th Country to Localize Gas Turbines
Korean companies related to production of gas turbines, a key component of power plants, are actively applying for patents. It is difficult to secure basic technologies for gas turbines and the entry barrier for the gas turbine market is high.
The world gas turbine market has been dominated by four powerhouses -- General Electric of the United States, Siemens of Germany, Mitsubishi of Japan and Ansaldo of Italy. As of 2018, GE leads the global gas turbine market with a 53 percent share, followed by Siemens with 29 percent, Mitsubishi with 15 percent and Ansaldo with 3 percent.
According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Korea became the fifth country to develop the technology for gas turbines for LNG-fired power generation in 2019 as Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction succeeded in localizing gas turbines for power generation.
As a consequence, patent applications on gas turbines have been increasing recently. Although the number of patents on gas turbines for power generation was about 100 per year between 2010 and 2013, the figure soared to about 200 per year from 2015 to 2019.
In particular, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has applied for 384 patent applications over the past three years since around 2017, when its license contract with Mitsubishi expired, far outpacing Mitsubishi (158 cases), General Electric (101 cases), and Siemens (41 cases) during the same period. That is to say, Doosan is focusing on securing technology and patents.
The Korean government aims to increase LNG power generation from the current 40GW level to 60GW in the future. Accordingly, it plans to expand LNG-based power generation to 60GW by introducing over 24 additional gas turbines by 2034.