In the scorching sun, the machinery of the wind power bearing production site of a well-known domestic bearing factory roared, and the school was busy. The workers on the spot were rushing to make orders to ensure the demand of domestic and foreign wind turbine manufacturers.
However, at the same time that wind power “rush installation” has brought about a rapid increase in bearing demand, the epidemic has affected the normal production of bearing manufacturers at home and abroad. The main bearings of wind power have always been in short supply.
Luo Yi, an internal staff member of Luo Shao (a pseudonym here at the request of the interviewer) told reporters that, in fact, orders for wind power spindle bearings have increased significantly since the second half of last year, and some high-power spindles are currently affected by the epidemic. Bearings have also been transferred to domestic bearing manufacturers to start research and development and small batch supply.
Under the double pressure of rush installation and epidemic situation, domestic wind power bearing manufacturers are facing great challenges…
Domestic bearing factory orders soared
Wind power bearings are one of the important supporting equipment for wind turbines. Not only must they bear huge impact loads, but also have a life expectancy of at least 20 years like the main engine. Therefore, the technical complexity of wind power bearings is high, and it is recognized by the industry as a difficult localized wind turbine. One of the parts.
Wind power bearing is a special bearing, mainly including: yaw bearing, pitch bearing, main shaft bearing, gearbox bearing, generator bearing. Among them, generator bearings are basically universal products with mature technology.
my country’s current wind power bearing companies mainly include tile shaft, Luo shaft, Dalian metallurgy, shaft research technology, Tianma, etc., and the production capacity of the above enterprises is mainly concentrated in yaw bearings and pitch bearings with relatively low technical thresholds.
As for the key spindle bearings, domestic bearing companies mainly manufacture 1.5 MW and 2.x MW grades, while large MW grade spindle bearings mainly rely on imports.
Since last year, the market demand for wind power bearings has been increasing. Affected by the global epidemic this year, domestic bearing manufacturers have received orders and received soft hands.
Take the Waxshaft Group as an example. From January to May 2020, the revenue from the main business of the wind turbine bearing increased by 204% over the same period last year.
However, an insider of the tile shaft group said that the spindle bearings have been in short supply this year, especially the spindle bearings of large megawatts.
There is a view in the industry that the main bearings in the future and even the main megawatt bearings will restrict the shipping capacity of wind turbine manufacturers.
Previously, in the online conference on global collaborative development of the offshore wind power industry chain under the epidemic, Tian Qingjun, senior vice president of Yuanjing Energy, pointed out that only a few foreign manufacturers such as Schaeffler and SKF can produce large-scale main bearings, but Its total output this year is about 600 sets, and it will be distributed in the global offshore wind power market.
At the same time, after the outbreak of the European epidemic, Schaeffler, SKF and other bearing factories in Europe have been greatly affected, especially in Europe. Some raw material suppliers are from Italy.
It can be said that the current spindle bearing capacity is far from meeting the needs of the wind power industry.
Localization of main bearings? It is an opportunity but also a challenge
A person in the wind power industry who did not want to be named revealed that in the case of a shortage of wind power main bearings, wind turbine manufacturers are currently using domestic main bearings, mainly tile shafts and Luo shafts.
In response, the reporter asked Li Yi for verification. He said that there are indeed some mainframe manufacturers who choose imported bearings all the year round and have begun to substitute domestically.
The complete localization of wind power main bearings is a long process. The insiders of the above-mentioned tile shafts believe that the main factor that promotes localization today is the shortage of main bearings.
It is understood that the Luo shaft and tile shaft are a full range of supplies, with experience in the development of wind power spindle bearings, and also have many years of installed performance, so in this round of rush installation can be the first to take orders for wind power main bearings.
Nevertheless, the above insiders still said that there is still a gap between the domestic spindle bearing manufacturing and foreign countries in terms of design, simulation and operation experience accumulation.
The reporter learned that some mainframe manufacturers will intervene in the bearing manufacturers from the initial research and development when they choose to replace the spindle bearings with localization. At the same time, they will send supervisors to track the process.
According to Li Yi, this mode of cooperation was relatively rare in the past, and it appeared after the start of the current round of looting.
Because at present, many wind power host manufacturers have hired domestic and foreign bearing professional and technical personnel, which has promoted the wind power host manufacturers and domestic professional bearing manufacturers to have a deeper, closer and more effective technical explanation and exchange in the early stage of wind power bearing R&D The cooperation has strengthened the trust of both parties, and at the same time, through the sharing and reference of design ideas and design ideas, the structure of wind power bearings and main engines has been better optimized. He believes that this kind of candid and collaborative cooperation will help the wind power industry make progress together.
For the localization of wind power main bearings, many industry insiders believe that this is a double-edged sword, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for domestic main bearings.