No. of Recommendations: 3
underpinnings of the electrification industry - panels, batteries, motors, etc. -
I think you will need to break it down by region, or even specific countries. IMO, the market worldwide is too diversified/non-standard regarding uniformity between countries. Some markets are fairly simple, others are not. Large markets can be entered via acquisition, others not. Mass-produced items could be produced in China, if they are able to realize significant cost savings. Larger, more specialized items, will likely not be mass produced, so no significant savings might be realized. However, China may be able to have lower prices due to lower labor costs and a willingness to get into a new area of business by underbidding competitors.
Specialty items, such as substation transformers, may--or may not--be an entry point if they can be produced at scale to really reduce price AND delivery lead time. I mention this item because it does fail, and when it does, it takes out power for a significantly large area. Substations can have ten (more/less) transformers, and they are not produced locally or even produced well in advance because each transformer is sort-of specialized. Mid-90s, the substation transformer for my area failed. We were without power for 7-10 days. The area without power was mostly residential in the city--about 2-3 city blocks wide and 2+miles long. Of course, the substation was two miles away with many transformers. I think only one or two transformers went out (no idea why), but the other one was quickly repaired or the damage was not catastrophic. Utilities will pay for getting a needed transformer in days, not a week or more (PR reasons and unhappy politicians). Transformers are somewhat heavy, but fit on a truck for hauling. Can't say if one will fit in a container (20'). Length not an issue, it is the width. I see China does already make this item in a variety of capacities (to US spec) and exports to the US, so they may already be at the "expand their share of the market" phase. No idea. OrmontUS might have more insight into this market.
