Wind power industry will leap forward

A key signal in the “12th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development” that is currently being solicited is to speed up the construction of nuclear power, and hydropower and wind power will also be greatly developed. An expert from the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission stated that "planning is still making adjustments and it is expected that the draft will be finalized by the end of the year." ”

Since 2003, the average annual growth rate of installed capacity of wind power in China has reached over 70%. By the end of 2009, the total capacity of wind power construction nationwide was 22.68 million KW, and the grid-connected operating capacity was 17.67 million KW, and the total lifting capacity reached 24.12 million KW. The world ranking of installed capacity for wind power in China rose from fourth place in 2008 to third place.

“At present, the latest development goals for wind power have been basically defined. In 2015, the national wind power plan installed 90 million KW, of which offshore wind power is 5 million KW. By 2020, the national wind power plan will have installed 150 million KW, including 30 million KW of offshore wind power.” Experts involved in the plan said that “the plans introduced in the future will emphasize the coordinated development of power grid transmission and distribution capabilities and wind power development plans. When building wind power sources, it is necessary to consider supporting power grid construction.”

In the early stage of the development of China's wind power market, foreign-funded enterprises were in an absolute dominant position occupying more than 70% of China's wind power equipment market. However, with the country’s policy support for domestic wind power equipment manufacturers and continuous technological innovation by domestic companies, the market share of domestic-funded enterprises has rapidly increased and the market competition landscape has been constantly refreshed.

In fact, "the high quality of foreign-invested wind power equipment is of good quality" has always been the consensus in the industry. At present, the design life of wind turbines is generally required to be more than 20 years. In terms of wind power price level and investment cost in China, developers need at least 8 or 9 years to recover their investment. Problems such as operational failures caused by the quality of equipment have become the biggest threat to the investment income of developers. Therefore, the quality issue is particularly critical. Compared with domestic brands, foreign-brand fans have always been favored by major developers.

However, in recent years, some domestic wind power developers are more inclined to purchase domestically-made wind turbines. Because the quality of foreign-funded equipment is certainly good, the current price/performance ratio has declined compared to previous years.

At present, when domestic wind power developers evaluate bids, the most important indicator is “KWh electricity cost”, which integrates various factors such as fan technology, price, and service. However, due to the high KWh electricity cost of foreign-funded enterprises, it is difficult to win the bid. In addition, another factor that should not be overlooked is that the after-sales service of foreign equipment manufacturers is slow to respond, because the downtime caused by service maintenance or timely replacement of faulty parts will cause huge power loss. Some experts also said, “A lot of people are worried about the quality of wind turbines of Sinovel, but in fact the company's wind turbine operating efficiency can reach more than 97%, so that high quality and rapid service can make up for short-term equipment quality problems.” The slow response of services and the inability of products to adapt to China’s local conditions may be one of the important reasons why domestic brands’ market share in China has increased.

In addition, in order to implement the “Restructuring and Revitalization Plan for the Equipment Manufacturing Industry,” to upgrade the overall level of the equipment manufacturing industry and promote the optimization and upgrading of the mechanical basic parts and components industrial structure, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced in late October the implementation plan for the revitalization of the mechanical basic parts and components industry. 》Efficiently clean power generation equipment is provided around the key areas, breaking the bottleneck of development of a number of key components, such as large-sized and high-strength fasteners for wind turbine towers, requiring anti-corrosion performance, over 700 hours, and strength grades of 10.9 and 12.9. , Stable screw strength, adapt to high and low temperature environment; High reliability and special fasteners for nuclear power development and development of new materials, require strength above 8.8, strong reliability, anti-jamming. The high-strength fasteners used in wind power are required to have strong stability due to long-term field service, poor environment, and poor maintenance conditions. Under normal continuous working conditions, wind power fasteners must ensure a service life of more than 20 years. Wind power high-strength fasteners have higher technical requirements. The materials and manufacturing processes for wind power fasteners have the potential and the market. The expectation for technology will be the subject of sustainable development.

Foreign equipment manufacturing companies attach great importance to the heat treatment of high-strength bolts to ensure the homogeneity of their organization, to obtain the best combination of strength and toughness, and to ensure the safety of bolts when they are in service. Domestic manufacturers have not paid attention to this issue. The prevalent problem is the defects in the heat treatment of the bolts, resulting in non-uniform tissue. Although the strength and hardness value of the bolt can meet the performance requirements of grade 10.9 and above, due to poor uniformity of the structure, early failure due to various reasons. Therefore, process control should be strengthened in the manufacturing process.

Recently, the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China announced 20 standards for wind power generators, among which GB/T25458-2010 "Regulations and Procedures for the Certification of Wind Turbine Generator Syndrome Grids" will be implemented on January 1 next year; there is also GB/T19072-2010 "Wind-power generation. Towers for Units, GB/T25381-2010 Series Spectrum of Wind Power Generators, GB/T25383-2010 Wind Turbine Blades for Wind Power Generators, GB/T25390-2010 Ductile Iron Casting for Wind Power Generators, GB/T25385 The "2010 Wind Turbine Generator Set Operation and Maintenance Requirements" will also be implemented on March 1 next year. This shows that the processing of wind turbine components is increasing. With the technological advancement of Chinese steel companies, the introduction of high-strength, high-heat-resistant, high-formed rods and wire rods will not only meet the requirements of the low-carbon economy and increasingly stringent mechanical performance of wind turbine components, but also support wind power generators. The localization of the whole machine and parts.

It can be seen that in the future, the wind power industry will have a vigorous development momentum. Fastener companies should seize this extraordinary opportunity to make a difference under the new situation.