I. New installed capacity of wind power exceeds 70 million kilowatts.

Wind power is a renewable energy industry that is both sustainable and recyclable. China has designated the wind power industry as one of its national strategic emerging industries. Driven by both industrial policy guidance and market demand, China’s wind power sector has achieved rapid development nationwide. On January 20, according to information released by the National Energy Administration, China’s newly installed wind power capacity surged in 2020, reaching 71.67 million kilowatts—a year-on-year increase of 178%. This figure has already surpassed the total installed capacity of the previous three years combined and set a new record for annual新增 installations.

Wind turbine blades are critical components in wind power generation systems, as their design and manufacturing quality directly affect the efficiency and service life of wind turbines, thereby influencing the overall system performance. At the same time wind speed, longer blades have a larger swept area, and the enhanced wind-capturing capability ensures that the turbine can operate at higher power levels. Therefore, the trend toward larger wind turbine blades is inevitable. However, as blade lengths increase, so do the blade loads and weights. Consequently, there is an urgent need for a material with high strength and low density to manufacture wind turbine blades—and carbon fiber precisely possesses these characteristics, making it widely used in wind blade production.

II. Demand for carbon fiber used in wind power reaches 30,000 tons.

Compared with traditional metallic materials, carbon fiber boasts significant advantages in terms of tensile strength, elastic modulus, specific density, and corrosion resistance. In terms of strength, carbon fiber is 20 times stronger than steel; its tensile modulus is 2 to 3 times higher than that of steel; and its specific gravity is less than one-fourth that of steel. Moreover, carbon fiber exhibits excellent corrosion resistance. In practice, replacing steel or aluminum with carbon-fiber composites can achieve weight reductions of 20% to 40%. As a result, carbon fiber has found applications in fields such as wind turbine blades, aerospace, sports and leisure, automotive, and construction. For some time now, the downstream applications of carbon fiber have been dominated by the aerospace industry. In 2016, wind turbine blades—with demand reaching 18,000 tons—replaced the aerospace industry as the largest segment in the global carbon fiber market, posting a growth rate as high as 50.0%. 。

According to the latest market analysis report, in 2020, global demand for carbon fiber used in wind turbine blades reached a total of 30,000 tons, accounting for 29% of the world’s total carbon fiber demand. From 2016 to 2020, the average annual compound growth rate of global demand for carbon fiber used in wind turbine blades was as high as 13.62%, and it is projected to reach 56,800 tons by 2025. In comparison with overseas markets, The demand for carbon fiber used in wind turbine blades in China has reached as high as 20,000 tons, representing a year-on-year increase of 44.9% and accounting for 40.9% of the country's total carbon fiber demand. In the future, as wind power capacity continues to expand, demand for carbon fiber will increase rapidly.

Three, Inventory of Major Carbon Fiber Manufacturers

The major domestic and international companies producing carbon fiber include Toray, Teijin, Formosa Plastics, Guangwei Composite Materials, Zhongjian Technology, and Zhongfu Shenying.
 

Toray of Japan is a global leader in the carbon fiber industry.

Founded in 1926, Toray Industries, Inc. of Japan is a leading global manufacturer of carbon fiber. Over the course of nine decades of development, Toray has perfected its entire industrial chain—from upstream precursor fiber production to downstream composite material product design and manufacturing. The company operates in 26 countries and regions worldwide and currently focuses primarily on fibers and fabrics, resins and chemical products, IT-related products, carbon fiber composites, as well as environmental and engineering services.

Japan Teijin is an internationally renowned manufacturer of aramid and carbon fiber.

Founded in 1918, Teijin of Japan operates primarily in the fields of composite molding materials, aramid fibers, carbon fibers, films, resins, fiber products, as well as pharmaceutical and medical services and IT businesses. On April 24, 2018, the Teijin Group announced that, in response to the globally growing demand for carbon fibers and to further enhance its global footprint, it had decided to invest in establishing Teijin (Shanghai) Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. in Shanghai and Taiwan Teijin Carbon Fiber Corporation in Taipei.

Taiplast is one of the few global suppliers of carbon fibers capable of producing polyacrylonitrile precursor filaments.

Formosa Plastics was founded in 1954 and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in the petrochemical industry, fiber textiles, and electronic materials. Not only is Formosa Plastics among the few global suppliers capable of producing polyacrylonitrile-based precursor fibers for carbon fiber, but it is also the only company worldwide that boasts a vertically integrated production chain—from crude oil all the way to carbon fiber.

Guangwei Composite Materials is a leader in China's carbon fiber industry.

Founded in 1992, Guangwei Composite Materials is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research, development, and production of high-performance carbon fibers and composite materials. In 1998, Guangwei Composite Materials introduced China’s first wide-width carbon fiber prepreg production line, filling a domestic gap. In 2016, breakthroughs were achieved in the civilian applications of carbon fibers, realizing— The industrialization of carbon spars for wind turbine blades has made us one of the primary suppliers to VESTAS, a global leader in wind turbine manufacturing.

Zhongjian Technology is a rising star in China's carbon fiber industry.

Founded in 2008, Zhongjian Technology is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D, production, sales, and technical services of high-performance carbon fibers and related products. The company was listed on the ChiNext Board in May 2019. Currently, Zhongjian Technology’s ZT7 series (exceeding T700 grade) high-performance carbon fibers have been the first to achieve full-scale, stable, and mass application in key domestic aerospace models. Additionally, the company has established stable production of the ZT8 series (T800 grade) carbon fibers and has successfully developed high-modulus ZM40J (M40J grade) and high-strength/medium-modulus ZT9 (T1000/T1100 grade) graphite fibers.

Zhongfu Shenying is a leading enterprise in China's carbon fiber industry.

Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. was established in 2006 and is affiliated with China National Building Materials Group Corporation. After more than a decade of development, Zhongfu Shenying has mastered large-scale production technologies for T700- and T800-grade carbon fibers at the thousand-ton level, as well as pilot-scale technologies for T1000-grade carbon fibers. The company has taken the lead in China in achieving breakthroughs in key dry-spinning wet-spinning technologies and in achieving independent control over core equipment. It was also the first in China to build an industrial-scale production line for dry-spinning wet-spinning carbon fibers with a capacity of one thousand tons. To date, the company has cumulatively supplied over 10,000 tons of carbon fiber to the market, and its domestic market share of carbon fiber has remained above 50% year after year.

IV. Examples of Carbon Fiber Applications in Wind Power

90-meter-long carbon-fiber wind turbine blades enter mass production in Funing.

September 2020, At the No. 4 Factory of China National Materials Group Technology (Funing) Wind Turbine Blade Co., Ltd., as a large gantry crane slowly lifted, a 90-meter-long wind turbine blade was steadily loaded onto a truck and transported to the post-processing workshop for further treatment. “The first 90-meter carbon-fiber wind turbine blade successfully rolled off the production line last month and has now rapidly entered the mass-production phase,” said Wang Wei, deputy factory director. “This is currently the longest carbon-fiber wind turbine blade in mass production in China, and the new product boasts an added value about 20% higher than that of conventional blades.”

Asia’s first offshore wind turbine carbon-fiber blade factory begins mass production.

Tianli, a manufacturer of offshore wind turbine blades, is investing 3 billion yuan to build a plant on a 21-hectare site in the Taichung Port Industrial Special Zone (II), to be developed in two phases. The first-phase plant broke ground on November 7, 2018, and was completed in November 2019. Starting in 2020, mass production of 9.5 MW (megawatt) wind turbines requires carbon fiber blades longer than 80 meters. With an annual output value reaching 10 billion yuan, it is poised to become Asia’s largest manufacturing hub for carbon-fiber blades for offshore wind turbines.

80 meters! The first set of EN161 carbon-fiber offshore wind turbine blades from Shidai Xincai & Envision Energy has rolled off the production line.

In 2020, the first set of EN161 blades, jointly developed by Shidai Xincai and Farvision Energy, was successfully rolled off the production line at Shidai Xincai’s Shayang branch.
The EN161 blade is Times New Material’s first mass-produced carbon-fiber offshore wind turbine blade, with a length of 80 meters. It represents the longest blade design currently being developed through the collaboration between Times New Material and Envision Energy. Compared to conventional glass-fiber blades, the EN161 blade features lower density and higher strength, making it well-suited to the trend toward larger and lighter blades. The EN161 project is of great significance for Times New Material as it continues to expand into the offshore blade market and sets a benchmark for cutting-edge processes and manufacturing technologies in large-scale wind turbine blades.

V. Conclusion
       

As one of the new energy sources, wind power has been rapidly developing thanks to favorable national policies and growing market demand. Among wind turbine blade materials, carbon fiber—possessing the greatest potential—offers promising development opportunities and boasts a vast market space. Looking ahead, as the installed capacity of wind power continues to rise year after year, the market for carbon fiber used in wind turbine blades is poised for robust growth.