Domestic high-voltage inverter breaks through the technical bottleneck

Recently, 18 new products from TBEA Hengyang Transformer Co., Ltd. have passed national certification. Among them, among the new products that passed national appraisal, there are 3 products that have reached the international advanced level.

In this regard, the industry pointed out that with domestic high-voltage inverter manufacturers focus on and increase investment in R & D, breaking the bottleneck of technological development, domestic brands are gradually replacing imported products.

Domestic inverter gradually replaces imports

It is understood that these three products are: the world's first single-phase two-column UHV shunt reactor BKD-240Mvar/1100kV with the highest voltage rating and largest capacity; the largest capacity and voltage grade are produced by domestic transformer manufacturers. The highest field assembly transformer OSFPS-JT-1000MVA/500kV; the world's largest capacity combined transformer SSP-H-860MVA/500kV.

In fact, the three products of the TBEA Hengyang Transformer Co., Ltd. are just the epitome of the rise of China-made inverters. As early as 2011, Hekang Inverter actively extended its business to the upstream and downstream industries, participating in Guodian South from New Energy, cooperating with Shanxi Coal Group, acquiring 70% of the equity in North China, and establishing Beijing Hekang Yisheng Electric to occupy the market and optimize the supply chain structure. Reduce product costs. At the same time, the expansion of the application base, the establishment of rules, the introduction of standardized mode of production to improve the efficiency of inventory, the use of technology threshold and scale threshold to squeeze the market space of non-scale effect manufacturers.

According to people in the industry, entering the low-voltage field, the opportunity is greater than the risk for Hekang's frequency conversion. It is expected that sales of Hekang's variable frequency low-voltage and explosion-proof inverters will continue to grow rapidly in the next three years.

And in the "2013 China Automation Industry Annual Meeting" held in April this year, Senlan inverter once again reelected "the first brand of China-made frequency converter." This is the seventh time that Senlan has won this award. As one of the earliest companies engaged in the research of frequency conversion technology, Senlan continues to innovate and lead the market and industry development.

It is reported that in 2012, Senlan introduced the third-generation SBH series high-voltage frequency converters and achieved substantial breakthroughs in the domestic high-end market and large-scale engineering projects, and gradually established and improved marketing throughout the country and in Asia, Europe and the Americas. With the service network, the international market is expanding rapidly.

According to a power plant denitrification report issued by Chen Qiuquan, supervisor of Hekang Inverter Company, the share of China's inverter market in 2012 was still more than two-thirds of foreign brands such as Siemens, Schneider Electric, ABB, and Dongfang Hitachi. Regardless of technology, processing and manufacturing, industrial design, etc., or in terms of financial strength, there is a gap between domestic inverter brands and foreign brands, especially the gap between Siemens and ABB giants.

At present, the share of foreign brands in the domestic low- and medium-voltage inverter market is basically the same as in 2007, and it still remains at about 76%. At the same time, due to factors such as increased investment in basic projects (traditional advantages of leading brands in Europe and America) in 2008, The industry concentration of the top ten foreign-funded enterprises has increased, especially the share of leading brands in the industry has further expanded.

However, it is worth noting that about 100 domestic-funded brands have emerged in the Chinese market. The manufacturers of these inverters are mainly concentrated in coastal open provinces and cities, such as Guangdong, Shandong, and Jiangsu. Inventronics, Easy Energy, Anbang, Zhiguang Electric and other domestic inverter manufacturers have begun to occupy more and more market share thanks to their price advantage. Hekang's frequency conversion relies on continuous research and development, which has already captured 13% of the market share in the containment of foreign brands.

The market shows that with the increasing maturity of localized production, scale and technology, domestic brands usually have price advantages, and the improvement in quality has also led to a significant rise in the price/performance ratio of domestic inverters, and market demand will increasingly favor the domestic market. It will break the long-term monopoly of foreign inverters, and domestic manufacturers will also form well-known brands.

Domestic demand will be detonated

As the frequency converter has functions such as speed control, it has certain advantages in the field of energy conservation. According to estimates, the energy-saving rate of the motor system using the inverter is generally about 30%, and some high-level applications can reach 40% to 60%. The energy-saving effect is significant.

For example, the central air-conditioning is designed according to the maximum need of cold (heat) plus 10% to 20%, and the power consumption is large, and the energy-saving potential is also great. Using inverters to control the speed and energy of central air conditioning refrigerating compressors, refrigerating pumps, cooling pumps, cooling tower fans, air return devices, etc., it is possible to avoid excessive flow and excessive pressure and ensure the normal and effective operation of the system. Electricity 20% to 50%.

Another example is that during the construction of the “Shanghai Yangtze River First Tunnel”—the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel, builders need to ensure that the tunnel with a length of 8.9 kilometers and a diameter of 13.7 meters is well ventilated. To this end, this project uses a frequency converter to directly specify the motor speed according to the amount of air used, accurately adjust the air volume, optimize the use of electrical facilities, and save energy by 20% to 45%.

According to Wang Zhankui, secretary general of the Electrical Energy Saving Expert Committee of the China Electrotechnical Society, from 2013 to 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has made the promotion of motor energy efficiency and improvement of the energy efficiency of motor systems the major industrial energy-saving direction. According to the Motor Energy Efficiency Improvement Plan (2013-2015) formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in addition to eliminating inefficient motors and promoting efficient motors, improving the energy efficiency of motor systems is also a major aspect of the plan. The frequency converter is an important device for improving the energy efficiency of the motor system.

Industry sources pointed out that with the promotion of the concept of energy saving and environmental protection, the development of the inverter market is gradually optimistic. In recent years, China's inverter market has maintained a growth rate of 12% to 15%. According to statistics, during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, China’s environmental protection investment will reach 3.1 trillion yuan. It is expected that by 2015, the total output value of China's energy-saving and environmental protection industries will reach 5.3 trillion yuan, equivalent to 8% to 10% of GDP during the same period.

“High-voltage frequency converters are the main force and vanguard of energy conservation and emission reduction. There is a huge market demand in the future.” Industry insiders told reporters that the next 10 years will be the decade in which both challenges and opportunities coexist. It is also a breakthrough in China's drive industry. 10 years of development. Currently, the growth rate of the installed capacity (power) of the inverter in the Chinese market is actually around 20%, and the potential market space is about 120 billion to 180 billion yuan. Among them, low-voltage inverters account for about 60% of the market share, and the remaining 40% are occupied by medium- and high-voltage inverters.