23-03 2026
With the installed capacity of new energy accounting for over 40%, can high-voltage complete equipment keep up?
As the installed capacity of new energy surges at an average annual rate of over 100 million kilowatts, the traditional logic of power grid equipment is being rewritten. High-voltage complete electrical systems, which once only needed to "ensure power supply", now have to answer a more complex question: how to "coexist harmoniously" with fluctuating and intermittent new energy sources?
1. The pressure of new energy grid integration forces the logical reconstruction of equipment
By the end of 2025, China's installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaics had surpassed 1.4 billion kilowatts, accounting for over 40% of the total installed capacity for the first time. However, behind this milestone figure, the power grid is bearing unprecedented pressure.
"In the past, the core task of high-voltage switchgear was 'reliable power supply' - as long as the insulation met standards and the switching was normal, the task was considered completed," admitted a person in charge of the equipment department of a provincial power grid company. "Nowadays, with new energy stations scattered across remote areas, voltage fluctuations are frequent, harmonic pollution is severe, and short-circuit current levels are rising. Traditional equipment is experiencing 'acclimatization issues'."
This "incompatibility" is directly reflected in the data. Statistics from a certain electric power research institute show that the failure rate of high-voltage switchgear in new energy aggregation stations over the past three years is nearly 30% higher than that of traditional thermal power transmission stations, with insulation breakdown and mechanical operating mechanism jamming accounting for over 60% of the failures.
The core contradiction lies in the mismatch between the "volatility" of new energy and the "rigid design" of equipment.
II. From "Universal" to "Scenario-based": Customization and Adaptation Become the New Standard
"We can no longer use the mindset of the thermal power era to develop new energy equipment," said the chief engineer of the High-Voltage Complete Equipment Division of Chint Group in an interview. "In the Shagohuang large base, the equipment must withstand 'sun exposure + wind and sand + large temperature differences'; in offshore wind power, it must endure 'salt spray + high humidity + vibration'; in distributed photovoltaics, it must meet the requirements of 'miniaturization + maintenance-free + intelligence'."
This contextualized demand is reshaping the product logic of high-voltage switchgear.
In terms of structural design, for the sandy and arid regions, enterprises have begun to introduce gas-insulated switchgear (C-GIS) with a "double-layer sealing + positive pressure dust prevention" structure, elevating the protection level from the conventional IP4X to IP65. Coupled with an intelligent temperature control system, it ensures stable operation under extreme temperature differences ranging from -40℃ to 50℃.
On insulating media, the penetration of environmentally friendly gas-insulated cabinets is accelerating. Due to the greenhouse effect, the use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is being gradually restricted, and environmentally friendly solutions such as dry air and C4 (perfluoroisobutyronitrile) mixed gas are beginning to be applied on a large scale. A leading enterprise revealed that the proportion of its environmentally friendly gas-insulated cabinets shipped in the new energy sector has increased from 15% in 2023 to 40% in 2025.
In terms of operating mechanisms, permanent magnet actuating mechanisms are gradually replacing traditional spring mechanisms in response to the frequent operations of new energy sources (such as start-stop of photovoltaic inverters and fluctuations in wind power). Their mechanical lifespan has jumped from the traditional 10,000 cycles to over 100,000 cycles, and they feature a simpler structure with fewer failure points.
III. Intelligentization: From "Perception" to "Decision-making"
If "high adaptability" addresses the question of "whether the device can be used", then "intelligence" answers the question of "whether it is easy to use".
In new energy stations, the common challenges include a limited number of personnel, widespread distribution, and high operation and maintenance costs. Traditional high-voltage complete equipment requires regular manual inspections, which are not only inefficient but also difficult to detect latent faults in a timely manner.
Intelligent complete equipment is changing this situation.
"The new energy booster stations we are delivering now come equipped with online monitoring modules as standard for all high-voltage switchgear cabinets," explained a product manager from a leading industry enterprise. "These include monitoring of circuit breaker mechanical characteristics (such as on/off coil current and travel curve), contact temperature, partial discharge, and SF6 gas density. These data are uploaded to the cloud platform via the Internet of Things, where AI algorithms perform fault prediction, truly achieving 'condition-based maintenance'.". ”
The data confirms the value of this trend. The practice of a new energy station of State Power Investment Corporation shows that after adopting intelligent complete equipment, the inspection workload has been reduced by 70%, the unplanned equipment downtime rate has decreased by 45%, and the annual operation and maintenance cost has been reduced by over one million yuan.
More importantly, intelligence is transitioning from being an "optional" feature to a "must-have". Several power grid companies have explicitly stated in the technical specifications for grid integration of renewable energy that newly constructed renewable energy stations should be equipped with online monitoring capabilities for equipment status and be connected to provincial-level renewable energy big data platforms.
IV. Market Landscape Reshaping: Specialized, Precise, Unique, and Innovative Enterprises Break Through to Occupy Leading Positions
The surge of new energy is reshaping the competitive landscape of high-voltage switchgear.
On the one hand, the traditional power grid bidding market is still dominated by leading enterprises such as XD, Pinggao, CHNT, and TBEA, which occupy a major share in large-scale wind and solar base projects by virtue of their brand accumulation and channel advantages.
On the other hand, a group of "specialized, refined, unique, and innovative" enterprises have rapidly emerged in the new energy sub-sector, thanks to their breakthroughs in specialized technologies. For instance, in the field of environmentally friendly gas insulation cabinets, some small and medium-sized enterprises have achieved differentiated competition through technological innovation. In the field of intelligent sensing components (sensors, online monitoring devices), a number of startups have gained capital favor.
"New energy projects are sensitive to costs, but they place more emphasis on the value of the entire life cycle," analyzed an investor in the power industry. "Whoever can form a 'moat' in 'high adaptability' and 'intelligence' will take the initiative in the next round of competition."
V. Future Outlook: From "Following" to "Defining"
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan, the "adaptation" between high-voltage complete equipment and new energy will enter a deeper level.
The large-scale application of grid-connected energy storage poses new requirements for the "active support" capability of high-voltage complete equipment - the equipment needs to have higher overload capacity, faster response speed, and stronger short-circuit current withstand capability.
The development of DC distribution networks has spurred new demand for DC high-voltage complete equipment - products such as DC circuit breakers, DC disconnectors, and DC transfer switches are still in their early stages of development, with technical standards and market patterns yet to be shaped.
Regarding the renewal of existing equipment, China has over 5 million high-voltage switch cabinets in operation, approximately 30% of which have been in service for over 15 years and are entering the renewal cycle. Combined with the "trade-in" policy, it is expected to unleash a market scale of hundreds of billions in the next five years.
As an industry expert put it, "High-voltage switchgear is undergoing a role transformation from 'passive adaptation' to 'active definition'. In the past, it was a 'cog' in the power grid; now, it aims to become an 'intelligent node' in the new power system."
