Analysis on the development status of China's environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cable industry in 2024 The industry market size will reach 10.41 billion yuan in 2023

Concept of environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cable

1. Power cable

Wires and cables are wire products used to transmit electrical (magnetic) energy information and realize electromagnetic energy conversion. Products with simple structure, no outer sheath and small outer diameter are usually called wires, and products with complex structure, solid sealed outer sheath and large outer diameter are called cables. Wires and cables are mainly used in three major fields: power systems, information transmission systems, and machinery and equipment and instrumentation systems. The products are divided into five major categories: power cables, bare wires, communication cables, wires and cables for electrical equipment, and winding wires.

Power cables are cable products used to transmit and distribute high-power electrical energy in the main lines of the power system. They are commonly used in urban underground power grids, power station lead-out lines, internal power supply of industrial and mining enterprises, and underwater transmission lines across rivers and seas. According to the voltage level, power cables can be divided into low-voltage power cables, medium-voltage power cables, high-voltage power cables, ultra-high-voltage power cables, and ultra-high-voltage power cables.

2. Environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cable

With the improvement of environmental awareness and the strengthening of environmental regulations, environmental protection has become an inevitable trend in the development of the power cable industry. Environmentally friendly power cables mainly refer to power cable products that do not contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, do not contain bromine flame retardants, do not produce harmful halogen gases, do not produce corrosive gases, burn with low heat, do not pollute the soil, and are tested for environmental performance by SGS recognized testing agencies. They comply with the EU Environmental Directive (RoSH) and exceed its index requirements. Its characteristics are as follows:

Environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cable mainly refers to power transmission and distribution circuits with a rated voltage between 6-35kV. It does not contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and does not contain brominated flame retardants. It has many special functional power cable products such as high flame retardancy, low smoke, halogen-free, low toxicity, fire resistance, fire prevention, water resistance, rat and mosquito resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, UV radiation resistance, oil resistance, wear resistance, bending resistance, no corrosive gas generation, high light transmittance, etc.

Current status of the environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cable market

1. Current status of the power cable market

——The scale of wires and cables continues to increase

In recent years, with the rapid development and continuous expansion of China's power, petroleum, chemical, urban rail transit, automobile and shipbuilding industries, especially the accelerated transformation of power grids, the construction of UHV projects, and the transfer of global wire and cable products to the Asia-Pacific region, mainly in China, the market scale of China's wire and cable industry has grown rapidly. The wire and cable manufacturing industry has become the largest industry among more than 20 sub-industries of the electrical and electrical industry, accounting for a quarter of the total. In 2022-2023, the scale of China's wire and cable market will be approximately 1622.4 billion yuan and 1735.8 billion yuan.

——Power cables occupy a large proportion

In terms of the wire and cable market segment, the market demand for power cables and electrical equipment cables is at the forefront. Due to my country's subsidies for offshore wind power installations in recent years, the rise in demand for new energy vehicles, and the rapid development of infrastructure such as rail transit, the demand for power cables and electrical equipment cables has increased significantly. From the perspective of market structure, power cables account for about 40% of the total wire and cable scale, wires and cables for electrical equipment account for about 23% of the total scale, bare wires and windings account for 27% of the total scale, and communication cables account for about 7%.

In recent years, the scale and growth rate of my country's power grid investment have remained at a high level. The development of application fields such as electrified high-speed railways, urban rail transit, large industrial and commercial projects, and data centers has also continued to drive the growth of demand in the power cable industry. In 2022-2023, the scale of China's power cable market will be approximately 648.97 billion yuan and 694.33 billion yuan respectively.

——Demand for medium-voltage power cables is strong

From the perspective of power cable segment products, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, driven by the power, new energy and intelligent markets, medium-voltage power cables have a large demand space. At present, domestic power cable demand is mainly dominated by medium and low voltage cables, among which the market demand for medium-voltage cables accounts for about 30%. In 2022-2023, the market size of medium-voltage power cables in my country will be approximately 194.69 billion yuan and 208.30 billion yuan respectively.

2. Current status of development of environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cables

——Environmental protection policies promote industry development

As the concept of environmental protection has become popular, environmental protection and greening have become new trends in the research and development, production and application of power cables. Some developed countries have banned the use of non-environmentally friendly cables, and my country has also issued a number of policies to promote the environmental protection development of the power cable industry. Environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cables mainly include lead-free polyvinyl chloride insulated environmentally friendly cables, halogen-free low-smoke flame-retardant polyolefin insulated environmentally friendly cables, halogen-free low-smoke flame-retardant cross-linked polyolefin insulated environmentally friendly cables and other types.

At present, most of my country's environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cables use cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated power cables, which enhance their environmental protection characteristics by improving flame retardancy, fire resistance, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. However, with the large-scale use of power cables, cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated power cables have also exposed some environmental problems. XLPE insulation material is a thermosetting material. It is difficult to recycle cross-linked polyethylene cables after retirement, and waste causes damage to the environment. At present, foreign cable companies have applied environmentally friendly polypropylene materials to medium and high voltage power cables and have formed a scale. Chinese companies and scientific research institutions are focusing on the research and development of environmentally friendly polypropylene insulated medium voltage power cables to promote the environmental protection development of the medium voltage power cable industry.

——The market competition pattern has taken shape

From the perspective of competition, environmentally friendly multifunctional medium voltage power cables are high-end products. Compared with conventional medium voltage power cables, environmentally friendly multifunctional medium voltage power cables have higher technical content, strict use conditions, and high added value. The products have more superior specific performance, which puts forward higher requirements on the technical research and development strength and financial strength of R&D and manufacturing companies. Due to the high barriers to entry in the industry, only some companies in my country have successfully entered the environmentally friendly multifunctional medium voltage power cable market with obvious technical and quality advantages, and the market competition pattern has taken shape.

——Industry market scale continues to increase

Due to the small number of R&D and manufacturing companies in the environmentally friendly power cable industry, the market penetration rate of environmentally friendly power cables in my country is at a low level. At present, the market penetration rate of environmentally friendly multifunctional power cables in my country is about 5%. In the future, as environmental protection policies continue to advance, the market penetration rate of environmentally friendly multifunctional power cables will continue to increase. In 2022-2023, the market scale of environmentally friendly multifunctional medium-voltage power cables in my country will be about 9.73 billion yuan and 10.41 billion yuan.

Jiangsu Liqiang Mechanical & Electrical Co., Ltd. is a professional wire and cable production manufacturer with development design, whole plant planning and technical advice, manufacture, installation, commissioning and after-sales service in one. Our main products are wire drawing machines, annealing machines, wire bunching machines and other related equipment for bare copper, copper alloy and stainless steel wire, etc.