Permanent neodymium magnets in the Russian wind power industry

This article is devoted to the problems of wind energy in Russia. One of the key issues in the development of wind energy in our country is the uninterrupted supply of permanent neodymium magnets and raw materials for their manufacture to wind generator manufacturers. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, several enterprises with the necessary competencies and technological equipment to produce magnets based on rare earth metals (REMs) survived in the country. However, the problem is that Russia does not have a complete production chain to the level of oxides, as well as individual rare earth elements and alloys based on them. All permanent magnets based on rare earth metals are imported, and supply interruptions negatively affect the work of high-tech companies, as well as enterprises of the fuel and energy complex and the military–industrial complex. The article analyzes the need of the country's wind energy industry for permanent neodymium magnets, the full production cycle of which can become one of the incentives to restore the production chain of rare earth metals and products based on them.