Accelerated Grid Development: Smartization Becomes the Trend in Low-Voltage Electrical Apparatus

　　After more than 50 years of development, the low-voltage electrical appliance industry has now established a relatively complete industrial system, with products that are widely used and boast enormous market potential. Based on the demand for corresponding distribution equipment to support newly added power-generation facilities during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, as well as the need for replacement and maintenance of existing power equipment, it is estimated that the total demand for products such as molded-case circuit breakers, plastic-enclosed circuit breakers, miniature circuit breakers, AC contactors, thermal relays, and residual-current circuit breakers will exceed 200 million units.

Industry statistics show that China produces approximately 1,000 series of low-voltage electrical appliances, with a total output value of RMB 20 billion, and that more than 2,000 manufacturing enterprises operate at or above the designated size. Currently, low-voltage electrical products are at the first to third generations of technological development, while fourth-generation products are still under development and research.

　　With the continuous improvement of China’s power infrastructure construction and the ongoing advancement of low-voltage electrical appliance manufacturing technologies, the new generation of low-voltage electrical appliances—characterized primarily by intelligence and communication capabilities—will emerge as high-end products. The first-generation products are expected to be phased out of the market by 2010, with the second-generation products relegated to the low-end segment, while the third-generation products and certain second-generation models will be positioned in the mid-range segment.

　　At present, domestically produced mid-range and low-end low-voltage electrical equipment essentially dominate the vast majority of the domestic market; however, with the exception of a few products that can compete on an equal footing with their foreign counterparts, most high-end domestic low-voltage electrical equipment still holds a very small share of the domestic market, meaning that domestic demand for such products continues to rely heavily on imports. It is expected that during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, imports of high-end low-voltage electrical equipment will continue to grow rapidly.

　　According to relevant plans, by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan period, China’s total installed power generation capacity will approach 800 million kilowatts. By 2020, the country’s total installed capacity is expected to reach 1.186 billion kilowatts, surpassing that of the United States and making China the world’s largest in this regard. The market for low-voltage electrical equipment offers enormous potential.

　　Intelligentization of low-voltage electrical equipment. In modern power plants and industrial and mining enterprises, computer-based monitoring systems have been widely adopted, placing high-performance and intelligent requirements on the associated low-voltage circuit breakers and mandating that these products feature protection, monitoring, testing, self-diagnosis, and display functions.

　　Product portfolio and modularity are key trends in the low-voltage electrical appliance industry today. By assembling modules with different functions according to varying application requirements, modular combination switchgear has become the industry’s development direction. For example, auxiliary contact units, time-delay units, self-locking units, interface units, mechanical interlock units, and surge voltage protection units can be added to the main body of a contactor to meet the needs of diverse applications, thereby broadening the product’s range of applicability, simplifying manufacturing processes, and facilitating installation, operation, and maintenance for users. At the same time, this approach will further enhance product reliability and overall quality.