Over the next three years revenues for new flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems (not including repairs) will rise and fall over a range of $3-4 billion per year.
The reason for the substantial fluctuation is the size of individual orders. These revised forecasts appear in FGD World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company.
The year 2014 will be a bigger year in the Americas segment due to the new Utility MATS rule. This requires compliance with hydrogen chloride emission limits. The FGD scrubbers remove both the SO2 and HCl. There are some new FGD systems in Latin America. Chile is installing a number of dry FGD systems.
In Europe there are some new coal-fired power plants and replacement of existing old FGD systems. There is little activity in Africa.
Asia is the big market. It will account for 50-70% of the total over the three year period. China will be the largest Asian purchaser. It is installing FGD with all new coal power plants. Also there are retrofit projects driven by tougher SO2 limits. The Japanese market may rebound due to an initiative to rely on coal to a greater extent.
India offers considerable long range potential. To date there have been a few seawater scrubbers installed on plants, but most have no SO2 removal devices. Tougher regulations are anticipated, so FGD companies are positioning themselves to pursue this market. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is partnering with BHEL to pursue this opportunity. Other international suppliers such as Alstom are also active.
