Executive summary 7

Introduction 16

The purpose of this report 17

Results of the expert survey 19

Themes from the IEA Energy Innovation Forum 2025 23

Chapter 1 Recent developments 27

Notable upgrades in technology readiness 29

Prominent advances in research and prototyping 32

First-of-a-kind pilot and demo achievements 35

Announced commitments to go to the next level 39

New products and processes hitting the market 42

Enhancements to R&D facilities, test sites and innovation support 44

The IEA Races to First in energy innovation 46

Energy technology awards 55

Chapter 2 Tracking spending trends 58

Public R&D 61

Corporate R&D 66

Venture capital investments 71

Chapter 3 Patenting 86

Trends in energy technology patenting 86

National specialisations in energy technologies 92

Trends in selected technology areas 95

Chapter 4 Policy progress 104

Overarching energy innovation strategies 106

Direct financial support 109

Tax incentives 121

Innovation inducement prizes 124

Demand-creation measures 125

Access to research infrastructure 129

Regulatory sandboxes and living labs 130

Knowledge management 131

Recognition awards 132

International collaboration 133

Remaining policy gaps and priorities 136

Chapter 5 Focus: Innovation for competitiveness 139

The economic pay-offs from public spending on energy innovation 140

Case studies: public sector contributions to transformational energy technologies 152

Opportunities for innovation to boost competitiveness in key technology areas 163

Knowledge gaps and priorities 169

Chapter 6 Focus: Technology innovation for electricity grid resilience 174

The challenges faced by electricity grids today 175

The case for strengthened innovation 179

Technology landscape: ensuring real-time stability and power quality 183

Technology landscape: ensuring system adequacy and flexibility 192

Technology landscape: ensuring physical resilience 202

Technology landscape: ensuring effective grid governance, interoperability and

cybersecurity 204

Knowledge gaps to be filled 210

Priorities for reaching the next innovation stages 212

Chapter 7 Focus: Innovation to make gigawatts of grid-connected fusion energy a reality 216

The case for strengthened innovation 219

Technology landscape: plasma confinement 225

Technology landscape: integrated fusion energy plants 243

Knowledge gaps to be filled251

Priorities for reaching the next innovation stages 252

Annex A Data tables 255

Annex B Methodological notes 261

　Innovation spending data 261

　Patent data 263

　Innovation highlights, Races to First and Technology Readiness Levels 264

　Stakeholder survey 273

Annex C Definitions 283

　Currency conversions 283

　Acronyms and abbreviations 283

　Units 284