The frequency converter is developing in the direction of customization and intelligence

In the context of the “double carbon” goal, the frequency converter, known as the “industrial vitamin”, has gradually become a “sharp edge” of energy conservation and emission reduction. In recent years, with the increase in the demand for energy conservation and environmental protection and the acceleration of the pace of equipment upgrading, China’s inverter industry has entered the era of “high pressure”.

CC-PCNT02 “Wherever there is a motor, there is a frequency converter. Ren Qiguang said that the continuous breakthrough of high-voltage inverter technology has greatly promoted the energy-saving applications of many traditional energy-consuming customers, such as fans, pumps and other fields. In the use of traditional fans, pumps and other equipment, due to the need to meet the operation needs under different load conditions, it is usually run in power frequency mode, but this will bring a lot of energy waste. The application of high voltage frequency converter can make the fan, water pump and other equipment operating frequency and power to achieve the best, and finally make the equipment can be more effectively matched operation, reasonable planning of the operation can not only greatly reduce energy consumption, but also extend the service life of the equipment, improve efficiency and reduce the impact of the equipment on the power grid.

“The breakthrough of high voltage inverter technology can also promote the intelligent and automatic upgrading of traditional industries, further improve production efficiency and reduce production costs, thus promoting the rapid development of industrial intelligent transformation.” Ren Qiguang further said that the breakthrough of high-voltage inverter technology has largely promoted the upgrading of the industry, technological innovation and the modernization of traditional industries.

CC-PCNT02 As we all know, the inverter through the input voltage level is divided into low voltage, medium voltage and high voltage inverter, high voltage inverter is usually used in the industrial field, suitable for high-power, high-voltage applications. They can provide high output power and carrying capacity, suitable for driving large motors, generator sets and other high-power equipment, while low-voltage inverters are suitable for low-voltage applications, widely used in household appliances, small mechanical equipment, air conditioning and so on.

From the perspective of industrial structure, listed companies such as Hekang Xineng, Yingweiteng, Huichuan Technology, XinFengguang, Zhiguang Electric, and Lanhai Huateng have strong strength, among which, Huichuan Technology and Yingweiteng have a high market share in the low and medium voltage market. In the institutional survey in September 2023, Huichuan Technology said that in the first half of 2023, the company’s low-voltage inverter and servo system ranked first in the Chinese market share.

In recent years, the performance of Huichuan Technology is very eye-catching. It was listed on the GEM of Shenzhen Stock Exchange on September 28, 2010, and achieved operating income of 304 million yuan and net profit of 103 million yuan in the year of listing. By 2022, the revenue and net profit have reached 23 billion yuan and 4.319 billion yuan. Through 12 years, the scale of revenue has increased by more than 74 times and the scale of net profit has increased by 40 times. At present, Huichuan Technology has developed into an industrial automation leader covering five major business segments such as general automation, elevators, new energy vehicles, industrial robots, and rail transit.

CC-PCNT02 Hekang New energy, new scenery mainly in the high voltage inverter market has a strong competitiveness. Hekang New Energy 2022 said on the interactive platform on July 6 that the high-voltage inverter market share is about 11%. Xinfeng said that the market capacity of high-voltage inverter in 2023 is about 6 billion yuan, which accounts for about 7% according to the number of orders signed by the company in 2023, ranking third in the domestic market.

The prospective Industry Research Institute predicts that by 2025, the market size of high-voltage inverters will exceed 20 billion yuan, and medium-low voltage inverters will reach more than 40 billion yuan. Such a market size, for the production of inverter companies, means that there is still a lot of room for future performance.

From the perspective of the industrial chain, Hekang Xineng, Yingweiteng, Huichuan Technology, Xinfengguang, Zhiguang Electric and other enterprises are in the middle of the industrial chain, the upstream of the industry involves transformers, IGBT, cooling fans, resistors and capacitors and other parts manufacturers, and the downstream market is composed of power, metallurgy, coal and petrochemical industries.

Among them, IGBT (power semiconductor) is the “CPU” of the power electronics industry and is the core component of the inverter. According to Hu Shunquan, at present, there are still problems with high-voltage and high-power IGBT and extra-voltage high-power modules, and domestic replacement has not been fully realized. However, with the gradual realization of technological breakthroughs in recent years by Star and BYD semi-conductors and rapid development, the domestic production rate is being significantly increased.

In fact, IGBT is not only used in frequency drives, but also widely used in new energy vehicles. According to the three quarterly report data of listed companies, in addition to China Resources Micro, Yang Jie Technology in the first three quarters of revenue declined slightly, the remaining several IGBT leading companies have maintained double-digit growth. Taking Star as an example, it has maintained a relatively good revenue growth rate in recent years, and the first three quarters of 2020 to 2023 achieved revenue of 963 million yuan, 1.707 billion yuan, 2.705 billion yuan and 2.619 billion yuan, respectively. It achieved year-on-year growth of 23.55%, 77.22%, 58.53% and 39.72%, respectively.

CC-PCNT02 The rapid development of IGBT manufacturers has also boosted the domestic production rate, and has also performed well in the more stringent IGBT market. According to statistics from JW Insights, the domestic market share of IGBT chip manufacturers has increased from 32% in 2021 to about 45% to 50% in 2022.

It should be pointed out that before 2000, there was no domestic inverter related technology and products in the domestic market, especially in the high-voltage inverter technology reserves are few, and the market in this field has been occupied by foreign enterprises. Only after entering the 21st century, domestic manufacturers represented by Xinfengguang and Huichuan technology have made breakthroughs in high-voltage frequency conversion technology, gradually competing with foreign products, and have been widely enabled in biological fermentation, central air conditioning, water supply, mining, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgy, cement, high-speed spindle, metal processing, paper towel machinery, textile and other industries.

Taking New scenery as an example, as early as August 1992, the first 22kW/380V frequency conversion governor was successfully operated, and by 2000, the first 560kW/6kV high voltage inverter was successfully operated. From an “unknown” state-owned wireless power plant, to now the “Top ten brands in China’s high voltage frequency converter market” listed enterprises, 30 years of technological precipitation has made new scenery in China’s high voltage frequency converter market a firm foothold.

CC-PCNT02 After domestic inverter manufacturers break through foreign monopoly through technology, with the gradual maturity of products, the market competition pattern is becoming more and more stable, product prices, gross profit level fluctuations are relatively stable, and market share is mainly concentrated in the hands of new scenery, Huichuan Technology, Hekang New Energy and other head manufacturers with strong technical strength.

Hu Shunquan said that under the acceleration of technology iteration in recent years, there are only about 5 head enterprises in the industry, and the market share is more and more concentrated in the hands of the head enterprises, “In the past 20 years, the new landscape only focuses on one thing, that is, hard practice in the field of high-power electronics energy-saving control. ”

For the future development direction of inverter, Ren Qiguang believes that with the gradual increase in the demand for high-voltage inverter, the demand of different industries is also increasing, therefore, high-voltage inverter in the future need more customized functions to meet the personalized needs of users, including high-power, miniaturization, lightweight and other customized needs, while the need for more fine and efficient control technology. “The high voltage inverter will pay more attention to the development of intelligent direction in the future, through the use of more advanced sensor technology, computer technology and communication technology, as well as the application of artificial CC-PCNT02 intelligence technology, the high voltage inverter equipment will be upgraded to intelligent equipment, intelligent monitoring, diagnosis and remote operation and other functions, and on this basis, fully realize digitalization and automation. Including parameter self-setting technology, process self-optimization technology, fault self-diagnosis and other technologies. ”

Ren Qiguang further said that the frequency converter has a trend of integration with the motor, so that the frequency converter becomes part of the motor, which can make the volume smaller and the control more convenient. After the integration of the high voltage inverter and the motor, the assembly and installation process can be greatly simplified, and the installation cost of energy-saving transformation in the factory can be reduced. When the motor and inverter are integrated into one device, the assembly and installation of the device will be easier, with fewer connectors and less wiring, while also reducing cable, material and labor costs.