Global nuclear power shift eastward

“In the past, our global CEO did not come to China for several years and now comes two or three times a year.” said Liu Jia, Senior Market Manager of Invensys Operations Management China, the most recent one was last month. Recently, Invensys has just signed a second long-term cooperation agreement with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd. to provide safety and distributed control systems and solutions for the two 650,000 KW PWR nuclear power plants under construction in Hainan, China.

Coincidentally. The world’s largest nuclear power company, Areva, has repeatedly stated that it believes that there will be much room for the future development of the nuclear power industry in the Chinese market. They are trying to expand their market share in China, plan to increase investment, and set up in Beijing. The headquarters in China, the headquarters in China and the Asian headquarters of the company are at the same level, directly responsible for Areva's global headquarters in Paris. In addition, Siemens accelerated the technology transfer and established the “Siemens China Beijing Research Institute”; Schneider Electric moved its Asian headquarters and China headquarters to Beijing Wangjing Science Park.

In fact, if we combine the actions of these multinational corporations with a set of data recently released by the National Energy Administration, we may be able to see some signs: nuclear power installed capacity should reach at least 75 million kilowatts, and investment in the next 10 years will exceed 930 billion yuan. At present, the localization rate of nuclear power equipment in China is only 50%, which means that nearly 500 billion yuan will be shared by multinational companies.

As stated by Invensys, "In the United States, one year may not be able to sign a project, and China can sign a few projects a year," the temptation of interest, have to value the Chinese market.

Indeed, although China’s current nuclear power assembly machines are not worth mentioning, there are 23 units under construction, with a total installed capacity of 25.4 million kilowatts, accounting for 40% of the world’s 57 units, and it has become the largest nuclear power plant in the world. country. From the perspective of Asia as a whole, a total of 11 countries in Asia are building 18 reactors, accounting for 70% of the total number of reactors under construction in the world. The trend of global nuclear power migration to the east is already evident.

The recent China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition attracted more than 200 exhibitors from 15 countries with the most advanced nuclear technology.

Undoubtedly, these manufacturers are all directed at the Chinese market. According to the “12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development” and the “Development Plan for Emerging Energy Industries”, if the target of non-fossil energy reaches 15% by 2020, nuclear power will have a size of at least 75 million kilowatts, and currently The installed capacity of nuclear power in China is only 9 million kilowatts, and there is room for growth of up to 7 to 8 times in the future.

It is also said that the “Regulations on Nuclear Power Management” currently being formulated by the National Energy Administration is expected to be submitted to the State Council by the end of this year. The "Regulations on Nuclear Power Management" will focus on the support for the future development of nuclear power, which will vigorously promote the development and construction of inland nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power project construction cycle is generally about 5 years, and in the other five years before the construction cycle, it needs to start early planning and preparation work, which takes 10 years. Therefore, to complete the 75 million kilowatts of nuclear power installed capacity by 2020, it is necessary to start construction before and after 2015, and begin the preliminary planning in 2010. Therefore, in the next five years, it will be a golden period for nuclear power companies to usher in a large number of orders.

A nuclear power plant includes a total of more than 300 systems, requiring tens of thousands of spare parts. A long nuclear power industry chain, how many companies will provide opportunities?

Taking only the national nuclear power technology company as an example, it is difficult to count the number of multinational companies with which it cooperates. For example, it established a high-level regular consultation mechanism with Westinghouse, and signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the US Shaw Group to jointly develop the world nuclear power and energy markets; related to Korea Electric Power Corporation, Doosan Heavy Industries, Belgium Harmon, etc. Cooperation sign the agreement. and many more.

Even Bill Gates, founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of Microsoft Corporation of the United States, also fancy China's nuclear power market. In November of last year, he led the United States Terra Energy to the headquarters of the National Nuclear Power Technology Corporation and discussed the research and development of Terra Energy. The "wave reactor" technology and its follow-up cooperative development plan.

When the Invensys Group's global CEO Ulf Henriksson accepted an interview with Energy magazine, he repeatedly stated: "Today, China's new nuclear power plant construction is leading the world and is expected to be scored in the future. In other years, other countries will also vigorously develop nuclear energy, and we believe that in the future China will become the main provider of nuclear power construction opportunities in the world."

Henriksen admits that Invensys has always regarded China as an important strategic market. This British-based multinational technology group company established China's first Sino-U.S. joint venture Shanghai Fox Pollo Co., Ltd. in 1982. (SFCL), carries out automation business and invests heavily in manufacturing and engineering institutions and facilities, including the SFCL plant in Shanghai, the new control plant in Qingdao, and the Shanghai Control Engineering Center. At present, Invensys has occupied a third of the market share in China's new nuclear power plant control system market.

To enter the Chinese market, we must first understand what China needs. In recent years, China’s needs have also changed. “It is no longer a fund but a transfer of technology.” Yu Zusheng, member of the National Nuclear Power Technology Corporation Expert Committee and member of the Nuclear Safety and Environmental Experts Committee of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, accepts the magazine Energy. An interview with reporters said. How China will combine its own nuclear power generation technologies, such as whether to choose AP1000 or EPR, will determine which countries' nuclear power companies are more competitive.

According to the “New York Times” report, the U.S. government has convened meetings of senior officials representing the interests of U.S. companies on many occasions and asked them to seek a favorable position during the construction of Chinese nuclear power plants. Thus, the United States proposed to provide China with basic technologies for nuclear power plants.

In terms of reactor vessels, water pumps, steam turbines, generators and other equipment, Japanese companies have advantages. After years of competition and development, Hitachi's manufacturing capacity has reached the level of a complete set of 1 million kilowatts of nuclear power plants every two years.

For France, it is natural to continue pushing EPR with the long-term friendly partnership with China Guangdong Nuclear Power.

Henriksen also acknowledged: “Strengthening China’s localization in technology and engineering has always been the basis for Invensys’ operating model in China and will continue to be a continuous trend.”

The selection of technology transfer is also considered carefully for multinational companies. At present, the most famous Taishan project is still in full swing, and France’s Areva, one of the project’s product suppliers, has been struggling with this. Nie Likai, vice president of Areva China, and Nie Likai, who is in charge of nuclear power business, frankly stated that technology transfer is a decision after Areva’s careful consideration. The company is not worried that it will be surpassed by the Chinese. Of course, Areva also has its own purpose. Their new blueprint is to expand the scope of cooperation with China to the world and achieve a greater scale of win-win.

At the end of 2009, Areva and CNG established a joint venture WECAN Co., Ltd. to provide engineering design, procurement services, and overseas promotion of EPR projects for the nuclear power projects that the two companies will build in China in the future. In order to help China digest EPR technology as soon as possible, Areva began to allow some Chinese engineers and technicians to fly to France to observe and participate in the design from Unit 1 in Taishan, and then gradually moved the design discussion to China as the project progressed.

Indeed, in today's ever-increasing technological controversy, if the Chinese market is not completely eaten up by the more mature AP1000, the EPR, as the representative of French technology, has to accelerate the penetration in China, while China no longer needs funds, but technically. The transfer of Areva's emphasis on the Taishan project can be imagined. “There are 735 and 300 engineers in France and Germany who are busy working on the Taishan project and the number even exceeds the 250 in China.”