The general trend of coal to gas conversion
However, natural gas prices have skyrocketed
High-temperature spray tower, high-temperature kiln firing, glaze line, polishing line, packaging line, plus the transmission belt of the entire production line... For a long time, the ceramic manufacturing industry has given most people the impression of " "High energy consumption" label. In order to reduce the air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions caused by coal burning, the country began to implement the "coal-to-gas" policy. This vigorous energy movement reached its climax in the ceramic industry in 2019. This year was also due to the "coal-to-gas" policy. Considered the worst year by the Ceramics.
The importance of energy is self-evident. It is the material basis of human activities and a necessary factor for social development. In a sense, the development of human society is inseparable from the emergence of high-quality energy and the use of advanced energy technology. In today's world, the development of energy is a common concern of the whole world and all mankind, and it is also one of the important topics of social and economic development.
Although coal, oil, and natural gas are all non-renewable energy sources, natural gas has the advantages of safety, high calorific value, and cleanliness compared with coal and oil. According to relevant data, starting in May 2021, coal consumption in the building materials industry began to experience negative year-on-year growth. In the third quarter, the total gas consumption in the chemical, ceramics, glass, steel and other industries increased by 9.4% year-on-year. It can be seen that the "coal-to-gas" transition in the building materials industry is irreversible and imperative.
In addition to local requirements for ceramic companies to carry out equipment modifications, the National Development and Reform Commission also issued the "Notice on "Energy Efficiency Benchmark Levels and Baseline Levels in Key Areas of High Energy-Consumption Industries (2021 Edition)". Regarding the manufacturing of architectural ceramic products, the notice stipulates that the comprehensive energy consumption benchmark level per unit product of ceramic tiles with a water absorption rate ≤ 0.5% is 4 kg of standard coal/square meter, and the benchmark level is 7 kg of standard coal/square meter; 0.5% < water absorption ≤ The benchmark level of comprehensive energy consumption per unit product of ceramic tiles with 10% is 3.7 kg of standard coal/square meter, and the benchmark level is 4.6 kg of standard coal/square meter; the benchmark level of comprehensive energy consumption per unit product of ceramic tiles with a water absorption rate >10% is 3.5 kg. Standard coal/square meter, the benchmark level is 4.5 kg standard coal/square meter.
According to calculations by ceramic enterprises, the cost of using gas for ceramic tiles will increase by about 3 yuan/square meter compared with coal. If piped natural gas is used, the increased cost will be even higher. Since 2021,Global natural gas prices have skyrocketed, frequently hitting record highs, which has had a huge impact on the ceramic industry. In November, the person in charge of a ceramics company in Guangdong said in an interview with CCTV Finance: "At the beginning of this year, our natural gas was probably below 3 yuan, and the cost of natural gas accounted for more than 30%. Now the price of natural gas has tripled. ”
Not long ago, a Guangdong ceramics company issued a notice stating that due to the rising prices of raw materials and energy in 2021, in order to further improve product quality, save energy, reduce emissions, and increase production capacity, they decided to gradually stop kiln upgrades in early December 2021. Transformation, and suspending the acceptance of engineering orders that have not been delivered as scheduled.
The house leaks and it rains all night
Can’t escape power cuts and rising electricity prices
Since July, many ceramic production areas across the country have issued power rationing orders. In early August, Guangxi production areas began to ration power; since September, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hunan, Liaoning, Jilin, More than 20 provinces including Heilongjiang have successively started orderly power consumption, and industrial enterprises in many places have been required to "open three times and stop four", "open two and stop five" and even "open one and stop six" to use electricity at staggered peaks.
In order to hand over a better report card of dual energy consumption control targets, the "power rationing" trend has affected life and production in almost every city and region across the country, and the ceramic industry has also been deeply affected. It is reported that some ceramic production areas directly imposed power cuts at that time, and many ceramic companies were caught off guard. News that many leading ceramic companies had stopped production lines and limited production also caused an uproar in the industry.
It is reported that in order to cope with the impact of "power rationing" on production, some ceramic factories that were rushing to make orders had to use diesel power generation. For a time, the supply of diesel generators exceeded the demand, and the sales and rental prices went up. A relevant person in charge of a ceramics factory once calculated that if a ceramics factory prepares four sets of diesel generators, it will increase the cost by nearly 700,000 yuan a month.
As the "power supply guarantee" work has achieved initial results, many ceramic companies have begun to gradually resume production. Just when they were relieved to have survived this crisis, they were hit by the "unlimited rise in electricity prices." Another blow was that the house leaked and it rained all night. It is reported that the National Development and Reform Commission has made it clear that through market transactions, it will increase the price at the "base price +On-grid electricity prices will be formed within the range of "floating downwards". 29 provinces and cities have carried out electricity price adjustments. Among them, Guangdong and Fujian have clarified that the market transaction electricity prices of high-energy-consuming enterprises are not subject to a 20% increase; the electricity prices of high-energy-consuming enterprises in Jiangsu Province during peak hours Approximately 2.15 times the market transaction price.
In addition to Guangdong, Fujian and other places, rising electricity prices have also affected Jiangxi production areas. It is reported that electricity prices in pan-Gao'an production areas such as Fengcheng, Shanggao, Yifeng and Gao'an have increased by 8 cents, an increase of about 12%. The person in charge of a ceramics company in Gao'an revealed that this is the first wave of price increases in electricity prices and may only rise in the future. This means that a production line with a daily output of 15,000 cubic meters will increase the electricity cost by more than 100,000 yuan a month.
Soaring gas prices and difficulty in using electricity
What other energy sources are available for ceramic companies?
Under the overall situation of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality", ceramic enterprises are faced with the dilemma of "soaring gas prices" and "difficulty in using electricity". The possibility of returning to coal is almost zero, so what else is there? What methods can be used to solve the energy problems currently facing the industry? In recent years, the most popular thing in the industry is “photovoltaic power generation” technology.
According to statistics, more than 200 rooftop distributed photovoltaic projects in ceramic factories have been approved in the past five years, and the largest single distributed photovoltaic project in China is currently in the ceramic industry. At present, ceramic companies planning to invest in photovoltaic projects include New Pearl, Dongpeng, Marco Polo, Mona Lisa, Jianyi, etc. Photovoltaic power generation has become a major direction for enterprises to achieve sustainable development. Taking Xinmingzhu as an example, the distributed photovoltaic power generation project under construction in its Sanshui smart factory has an area of 80,000 square meters in the first phase and an annual power generation of approximately 7 million kilowatt hours.
It is worth mentioning that Antai Building Materials, a subsidiary of Jinjiang Tengda Ceramics, also invested in a distributed photovoltaic power generation project and successfully connected it to the grid this week. The environmental benefits generated by the 10.5 MW distributed photovoltaic power generation system introduced in this project are quite significant. During its designed 25-year life cycle, the ACC photovoltaic power generation system can output a total of 260 million kWh of green photovoltaic clean power. It can help the park reduce coal use by about 3,300 tons, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 8,900 tons, reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 1,720 kilograms, reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 1,924 kilograms, and save 13,000 tons of water every year.
In addition to photovoltaic power generation, hydrogen energy, a clean energy source, has also received attention from all walks of life. Many scientific researchers are actively looking for ways to improve the efficiency of hydrogen energy utilization, allowing hydrogen energy technology to play a huge role in industrial development. It is understood that hydrogen energyThe calorific value is the highest among all fossil fuels, chemical fuels and biofuels except nuclear fuel, and can reach 142351kJ/kg, which is equivalent to three times the calorific value of gasoline. Fortunately, the current ceramic industry is gradually beginning to embrace hydrogen energy.
On November 16, Infineon, the world's top hydrogen power system provider, officially signed a contract with Mona Lisa Group to launch a commercial application project of hydrogen power systems in the field of material handling. It is reported that the hydrogen forklift delivered this time will be mainly used for the intelligent operation of products in the Mona Lisa Group's special high-performance ceramic plate construction project. Hydrogen forklifts have very outstanding advantages over traditional forklifts. They charge in 3 minutes and use for 5 hours. This has a great charging time and cost advantage over lithium batteries, and achieves the same effect as refueling a diesel vehicle.
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Today, the industry is in an important stage of increasing concentration and elimination and reshuffle. When faced with energy issues, ceramic companies not only need to measure production costs, but also need to consider how to reduce pollution to the ecological environment. It is no exaggeration to say that energy is the lifeline of ceramic enterprises. Only enterprises that take the lead in deploying new energy sources can achieve healthier and more stable development.
(Author: Hong Xiaochun)
