UHV and New Energy Drive Dual Growth: ACSR Industry Enters a New Era of Energy Conservation and Intelligence

Policy-Project Resonance Optimizes Market Demand Structure​

Data from the National Energy Administration shows that the total investment in national power grids during the 14th Five-Year Plan period has exceeded 3 trillion yuan, with UHV projects accounting for over 30%. UHV DC projects such as Longdong-Shandong and Jinshang-Hubei (±800kV) have been intensively commissioned, directly driving the structural growth of ACSR demand. The proportion of demand in the UHV sector is expected to exceed 42% in 2025, with 1250mm² large-section conductors becoming the mainstream configuration. Compared with traditional products, their current-carrying capacity is increased by 50%, which can meet the long-distance power transmission needs of 10-million-kilowatt-class new energy bases.​

New energy grid connection has become another core growth driver. In 2023, China's newly installed wind power capacity reached 75GW and photovoltaic capacity 216GW, both hitting record highs. The large-scale development of wind-solar bases has raised higher requirements for the fatigue resistance and weather resistance of transmission lines. As concentrated new energy base areas, Northwest and North China are expected to maintain a combined demand share of 48%-52% during 2025-2030, promoting the accelerated popularization of special ACSR with high conductivity and sand corrosion resistance. Meanwhile, the upgrading of urban power grids and the deepening of the "West-to-East Power Transmission" strategy have driven sustained strong demand in East and Southwest China. In 2024, East China's market share reached 38.6%, and Southwest China became the fastest-growing region with a growth rate of 21.3%.​

Accelerated Technological Iteration: Energy Conservation and Intelligence as Core Competitiveness​

The upgrading of conductive performance has become the core direction of technological breakthroughs in the industry. High-conductivity hard aluminum ACSR has increased its conductivity to 63% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) by controlling the impurity ratio of aluminum materials, optimizing the drawing process, and adding TiC refiners, reducing the DC resistance by about 3% compared with traditional products. This product has been successfully applied in Jiangsu's 500kV Doushan-Changshu South Line and 220kV Nantong West-Changqing Line. After transformation, the annual power saving has reached 1.393 million kWh and 238,000 kWh respectively, with an investment payback period of only 8.5-9.3 years. At the same time, aluminum alloy core aluminum conductors and all-aluminum alloy conductors have further reduced losses while maintaining mechanical properties through the optimization of Mg-Si alloying formulas and heat treatment, becoming the preferred solution for new energy transmission lines.​

Frontier technology R&D has made breakthroughs in multiple areas, driving products towards "functionalization". Graphene-coated conductors can reduce transmission losses by another 8%-10% and are currently in the pilot-scale test phase; intelligent monitoring conductors integrated with optical fiber sensing technology can real-time feed back stress and temperature data, having been piloted in 7 provincial power grids, with a penetration rate expected to reach 15% by 2030. In the field of special scenarios, the chloride ion corrosion-resistant ACSR developed by Zhejiang Wanma won the bid for China's first deep-sea floating wind power project, and the special conductor for alpine regions launched by Zhongtian Technology can withstand extreme low temperatures of -40℃, gradually forming a pattern of differentiated product competition.​

Intelligent manufacturing and green production have been upgraded simultaneously. Leading enterprises in the industry have introduced AI closed-loop control systems and machine vision inspection technologies, controlling the cross-sectional accuracy tolerance of conductors within ±0.02mm and increasing the single-line production efficiency by more than 30%. In terms of environmental protection, the penetration rate of cyanide-free galvanizing technology is rising rapidly, expected to exceed 90% by 2030; enterprises such as Hebei Iron and Steel Group and Baowu Group have reduced unit product energy consumption by 18% compared with 2019 through green power substitution and waste heat recovery, and the wastewater reuse rate has increased to 92%, so as to meet the compliance requirements of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).​

Optimized Competitive Pattern: Overseas Markets Become New Growth Engines​

Industry concentration continues to increase, with leading enterprises highlighting their advantages. In 2023, the industry's CR5 (market share of the top 5 enterprises) reached 67.3%, with Zhongtian Technology, Hengtong Optic-Electric, and Far East Holdings occupying a dominant position, and the combined production capacity of the three enterprises accounting for over 45%. Leading enterprises have built cost advantages through vertical integration of the industrial chain; for example, Hengtong Optic-Electric has built its own aluminum rod continuous casting and rolling production line, reducing raw material costs by 12%-15%. Small and medium-sized enterprises are focusing on breaking through in niche segments. In the field of UHV special conductors above 500kV, 7 "specialized, refined, characteristic, and innovative" enterprises with annual revenue exceeding 500 million yuan have emerged.​

The export market has achieved counter-trend growth, becoming a new growth engine for the industry. Customs data shows that from January to October 2024, China's ACSR export volume reached 91,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 7%, accounting for 60% of the total aluminum wire and cable exports; the export volume in October alone was 8,480 tons, a month-on-month surge of 82%, showing a strong recovery momentum. Export markets are mainly concentrated in countries along the "Belt and Road", and power grid construction projects in developing countries such as Ghana, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan have contributed more than 80% of the export growth. With the average annual growth rate of power investment in the RCEP region maintaining at 8.2% and the advancement of enterprises' overseas production capacity layout, the export share is expected to increase from the current 18% to more than 25% by 2030.​

Future Outlook: Technological Upgrading and Global Layout Go Hand in Hand​

Industry experts said that in the next five years, the ACSR industry will enter a deep adjustment period of "quality improvement + structural optimization". The continuous advancement of UHV projects and offshore wind power will drive the rapid growth of demand for large-section and high-corrosion-resistant products; under the "dual carbon" goal, low-loss and low-carbon conductors will become the market mainstream; the integrated application of intelligent monitoring and new materials is expected to further shorten the product iteration cycle. For enterprises, it is necessary to continuously increase R&D investment, improve the full-scenario product matrix, and strengthen green supply chain management and overseas channel construction, so as to seize the competitive high ground in the industry reshuffle and provide solid support for the construction of a new power system.​