From January to June 2022, the installed capacity of China's new wind power generation was 12.94 million kilowatts. Compared with the previous two years, the speed of China's wind power hoisting construction slowed down significantly, which left the wind power cranes that were already idle, still less projects to connect, and the wind power hoisting field ushered in the most difficult stage.
The wind power crane is seriously idle
Unlike ordinary infrastructure projects, wind turbines are 100 meters high, their components are heavy and bulky, and the tonnage of cranes required for hoisting is also higher. Before rush loading, there are not many cranes that can meet the standards and are used for hoisting wind turbines in China. The boss of a wind power crane said that in 2018, that is, before the rush to install wind power, there will be no more than 300 large tonnage cranes in China. There are not many 450 ton crawler cranes, 600 ton crawler cranes and 800 ton truck cranes, and there are even a handful of cranes with more than 1000 tons.
A rush to assemble in 2019 led to the continuous expansion of crane enterprises' production. The orders of crane equipment manufacturing enterprises such as Sany Heavy Industry, XCMG machinery and Zoomlion Heavy Industry were full. Some crane enterprises in the infrastructure field such as bridges also poured into the wind power hoisting field. This year, the number of large tonnage cranes increased rapidly. Data show that at present, there are nearly 1000 large tonnage cranes for wind turbines in China (more than 450 tons, including crawler cranes, truck cranes and tower cranes), which can basically meet the annual demand of 50gw to 60GW of new hoisting scale for wind power. After parity, there was no urgent time window limit, the pace of wind power construction slowed down, and the supply-demand relationship between Party A and Party B for large tonnage cranes returned to rationality, with supply exceeding demand, which also led to the idleness of cranes. The crane person pointed out that at present, there are nearly 200 typhoon electric cranes in the market that are unemployed and seeking rent. There are no projects to connect, and the problem of idleness is relatively serious.
Crane rental price plummeted
Under normal circumstances, the hoisting cost of wind power accounts for about 2 ~ 2.5% of the total project cost. The hoisting cost of a single fan of 1.5 ~ 2MW is about 300000 yuan, and the hoisting cost of a single fan of 3MW is about 500000 ~ 600000 yuan on average. However, during rush loading, due to the lack of large tonnage cranes, the hoisting cost of wind turbines soared and the price was chaotic. During the construction of individual wind power projects, the hoisting cost accounted for as much as 10% of the total cost.
Take the 650 ton crawler crane as an example. Before the rush to install wind power, the monthly rental price was about 450000 yuan, then rose to about 900000 yuan / month, and finally rose to 1.5 to 1.8 million yuan / month. The main price of some 650 ton crawler cranes is 3 million yuan / month to 3.5 million yuan / month, or even higher. It is also this sudden profit that has attracted many crane owners and capital players who are chasing profits to build cars one after another.
A large number of players swarmed in, making the current wind power crane field seriously introverted. Some crane enterprises that are not well-known or have few stable cooperative customers in the wind power industry had to transfer the cranes at low prices or let leasing enterprises use them on their behalf. The competition among the crane enterprises that still exist in the market is also very fierce, and the quotations are lower than each other. In their words, only when there is a project to do can the enterprise afford cars and people, and the enterprise can survive.
At present, the rental price of cranes has plummeted. Under the background of the larger and higher wind turbines, the use price of cranes is much lower than before. People from crane enterprises said that the hoisting price of wind turbines has basically returned to rationality, and the hoisting cost currently accounts for about 2-3% of the total cost. The hoisting price of a 3MW onshore wind power is about 250000-300000 yuan, the hoisting price of a 5MW wind power is more expensive, basically about 350000-400000 yuan, and the hoisting cost of a 6-7mw wind turbine is about 430000-460000 yuan.
He added that the price of wind power hoisting has a certain relationship with the terrain where the project is constructed. The price of plains, Gobi and hilly areas is lower than that of mountains and hills. The crane enterprise said that there is a process of survival of the fittest in any industry and field. At present, we are at such a stage.
In the year of rush loading, there were more than 20 hoisting accidents, large and small. Some of them were overweight, the car overturned and the arm was broken, some of them were illegal construction, and the car was destroyed and people died. These accidents constantly awakened everyone. Safety should be paid attention to in fan hoisting, and standardized construction should be paid attention to. The crane enterprise firmly believes that wind power is a pollution-free and sustainable renewable energy, an important driving force to achieve China's energy transformation and double carbon goals, and will have great development in the future.
