With the continuous emphasis on new energy construction, new energy projects represented by nuclear power, wind energy and tidal energy have been started in recent years, and construction machinery will also usher in new development opportunities. From July 10 to August 2, 2013, the 21st international nuclear engineering conference hosted by the Chinese nuclear society was held in Chengdu. With the theme of "green nuclear energy, safeguarding the world", the conference attracted more than 1200 experts, scholars and engineering technicians from more than 30 countries and regions around the world. The conference has continuously revealed that the country will continue to strengthen the construction of new energy industry. Construction machinery products represented by large crawler cranes, all terrain cranes and large excavators will have a rare development space. And the complexity of nuclear power construction will further promote the change and development of large-scale construction machinery products.

Nuclear energy enters a new period of large-scale development

It is understood that at present, there are 46 units in operation and under construction in Chinese Mainland, distributed in 13 nuclear power plants, including 17 units in operation, distributed in 5 nuclear power plants, 29 units under construction, distributed in 12 nuclear power plants. The number of nuclear power units under construction ranks first in the world. At the same time, according to the medium - and long-term development plan of nuclear power, by 2020, the installed capacity of nuclear power in Chinese Mainland will reach 58 million kilowatts, and the nuclear power under construction will reach 30 million kilowatts. In the future, the number of new nuclear power units will be maintained at 4 to 6 each year, and the nuclear power industry will enter a systematic and large-scale development stage. At present, 16 nuclear power units have been put into commercial operation in mainland China, with a total installed capacity of 13.62 million kilowatts. In 2012, the nuclear power generation was 98.317 billion kwh, an increase of 12.75% over 2011, accounting for 1.97% of the national total power generation and 9.22% of the national clean energy power generation. According to the performance indexes specified by the World Association of nuclear power operators (WANO), among the more than 400 operating units in the world, the operating level of the nuclear power generating units in service in China is generally above the medium level.

Lifting the dome of nuclear power station with large crawler crane

The Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan has stirred the public's confidence in nuclear power safety to a certain extent, and triggered the world's profound reflection on the development of nuclear energy. Over the past two years, countries' understanding of nuclear energy development has become more objective and rational. As a clean, safe and large-scale alternative energy form, nuclear energy is still an important choice for many countries to meet their energy needs, ensure energy security, cope with climate change and alleviate the pressure on resources and environment. After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the Chinese government, on the basis of active response and comprehensive assessment, reiterated its unswerving adherence to the policy of developing nuclear energy. At present, nuclear power construction has been steadily restored to normal. At present, China has 17 nuclear power units in commercial operation with a total installed capacity of 14.7 million kilowatts, and 29 nuclear power units under construction with a total installed capacity of 30.57 million kilowatts. China has become one of the focuses of global nuclear power development. With the implementation of China's energy conservation and emission reduction policies and the implementation of the medium - and long-term development plan of nuclear power, nuclear power will also occupy more shares in China's energy structure. As a direct beneficiary, the construction machinery industry will further develop in this opportunity, especially the application of large-scale machinery products will be greatly promoted.

Inland construction and coastal construction projects are developing simultaneously

The future work direction of the nuclear power industry also includes accelerating the construction of inland nuclear power. So far, the construction of four units including Fuqing No. 4, Yangjiang No. 4, Shandong Shidaowan high temperature gas cooled reactor nuclear power station demonstration project and Tianwan nuclear power phase II Project No. 1 has been started successively. Among them, unit 1 of Tianwan nuclear power phase II became the first new nuclear power project approved by the State Council after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. At present, there are 29 nuclear power units under construction in China, with an installed capacity of 31.66 million kilowatts. The scale of nuclear power units under construction continues to remain the first in the world. Although China's nuclear power construction has been resumed, considering the importance attached by governments at all levels and the public to nuclear safety, the keynote after the restart is still high efficiency and safety. During the 12th Five Year Plan period, inland nuclear power projects are still put on hold.

Nuclear power construction has increased the demand for many large-scale construction machinery

At present, there are 7 plant sites that have been fully demonstrated along the coast, including Tianwan phase II and phase III, Haiyang phase II, Fuqing phase I, Yangjiang phase I, Hongyanhe phase II and xudabao phase I. These projects will install a total of 14 new domestic units with a standby capacity of 1.08 million kilowatts, with a total scale of 15.12 million kilowatts. Although there is no clear signal on the restart of new nuclear power projects in the policy, since the executive meeting of the State Council approved the two major nuclear power plans in October last year, the preliminary work of more than 15 million kilowatt proposed nuclear power projects that had been demonstrated before the "March 11 incident" in Japan has been carried out successively. Some equipment manufacturers have obtained orders for the supply of main equipment, and the bidding of auxiliary equipment has been started in succession. The above-mentioned new projects of more than 15 million kilowatts will be started before 2016, and the corresponding equipment market required for the construction of nuclear power stations will be fully released at that time, with a scale of up to 210 billion yuan.

Change of construction ideas and improvement of response requirements of construction machinery enterprises

On the basis of comprehensive nuclear safety inspection and daily continuous safety evaluation, the National Nuclear Safety Administration drafted the 12th Five Year Plan for nuclear safety and radioactive pollution prevention and control and the long-term goals for 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the "nuclear safety plan") in February 2012 and solicited opinions from the whole society. The State Council deliberated and approved the nuclear safety plan in May of the same year and issued it. The plan puts forward the long-term goal of China's nuclear safety in 2020, that is, the safety level of nuclear facilities in operation and under construction will continue to improve, and the new nuclear power units in the 13th five year plan (2016-2020) and beyond will strive to realize the possibility of actually eliminating the release of a large amount of radioactive substances from the design; The national research and development base for nuclear and radiation safety supervision technology and the national radiation environment monitoring system have been fully established; Form a nuclear and radiation accident emergency response system with complete functions, sensitive response and efficient operation. By 2020, the safety of nuclear power will maintain the international advanced level, the level of nuclear safety and radioactive pollution prevention will be comprehensively improved, and the quality of radiation environment will remain good.

The complexity of nuclear power construction will affect the development of large construction machinery

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Chinese government suspended the construction plan of inland nuclear power stations. Around the world, some countries have taken measures to abandon their nuclear weapons, which has affected the energy sector today. For example, after Fukushima, Germany shut down its nuclear power plant and used wind energy to generate electricity, but recently, it was unable to generate electricity due to no wind; After the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, Japan shut down some nuclear power plants, which directly affected their summer power supply. At the same time, it caused local enterprises to reduce their production capacity or move their production abroad, seriously affecting the national economic development. In the construction of new projects, the performance and technical indicators of large crawler cranes and other products will be improved accordingly.

In order to better meet the opportunities, some enterprises have launched some professional products. Recently, the first AP1000 nuclear power station ring crane in China was successfully offline in Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group. The ring crane of AP1000 nuclear power station is the ring crane with the largest bearing capacity in the world at present. Its successful off-line production is of great significance for improving the independent capacity of nuclear power in China and promoting the safe and efficient development of nuclear power industry. On March 25, China's first domestically made fuel handling machine for AP1000 third generation nuclear power technology reactor plant, which was manufactured by Dalian heavy industry, was offline. In addition, Dalian Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. has undertaken the manufacturing task of 8 sets of AP1000 lifting equipment for the National Nuclear Power Technology Engineering Company, including 1 ring bridge crane for the nuclear power station, 3 spent fuel cranes, 2 fuel grabbers and 2 fuel handling machines. Large crawler cranes and all terrain cranes of Sany, XCMG and Zoomlion have also been launched into the market in recent years. Construction machinery enterprises are preparing to meet the opportunity of nuclear power construction.