A Framework for Technology Maturity Assessment Based on Patent and Literature Analysis: A Case Study of Underground Compressed Air and Hydrogen Storage Power Generation

Abstract

Technological maturity serves as a critical indicator for evaluating the current state of technology development and forecasting future trends. It has been widely applied in high-tech fields, defense, and strategic emerging industries. This paper develops a multidimensional technology maturity assessment framework based on a comprehensive evaluation of existing maturity assessment methods and relevant application studies. The proposed model correlates computed values with the nine levels of technology readiness levels (TRLs) and the four stages of Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), providing a quantitative supplement to these classifications. Utilizing this evaluation model, the maturity levels of five underground compressed air and hydrogen storage power generation (UCHPG) technologies were assessed. The results, as of 2023, reveal that compressed air energy storage (CAES) has attained the highest TRL of 9. Conversely, hydrogen energy storage and fuel cell (HES-FC) systems achieved a TRL of 7, hydrogen-heated CAES (HH-CAES) and hydrogen energy storage and gas turbine (HES-GT) systems both reached a TRL of 6, while advanced adiabatic CAES (AA-CAES) obtained a lower TRL of 5. To validate the proposed assessment model, a comparative analysis was conducted with recent literature on the TRL classifications of these five technologies. The findings indicate that the multicriteria technology maturity evaluation model proposed in this paper is reliable, addressing the limitations of single-criterion assessment methods and providing a more comprehensive evaluation of technology maturity.