The growth stems from the fact that new member states are required to comply with existing EU laws, including the Large Combustion Plant Directive, passed in 2001, which requires all such facilities to be fitted with emissions control equipment or decommissioned by 2015.
In addition, the high price of gas and the emergence of advanced clean coal technologies promises to help coal-fired generation retain its relevance and boost the market for air pollution control equipment.
“Central and Eastern Europe offers some great revenue possibilities for air pollution control equipment manufacturers”, states the company’s energy and power industry analyst Jonathan Robinson. “After relatively patchy growth and insubstantial revenues in the 1990s, European expansion, economic growth and power sector reform has really driven this market forward, providing good opportunities in most states in the region.” Robinson adds: “Legislation is undoubtedly the most important driver of growth for sales of air pollution control technologies.” notes Robinson. “The Large Combustion Plant Directive is the most important among a spate of recent legislation.”
Frost & Sullivan finds that the western European air pollution control equipment market earned revenues of €970 million in 2005 and estimates this to reach €1.165 billion in 2012. However, the monetary value of the air pollution market for power plants in Europe is very closely linked to the debate between gas, coal, nuclear and renewables, explains Robinson. “If large-scale gas or nuclear construction takes place, then it severely restricts the market for environmental technologies, as neither of these fuels gives off the range and level of emissions as that of coal,” he concludes.
The Frost & Sullivan report on Europe echoes the findings of a similar study by the Company which concludes that by 2010 coal-fired power plants around the world will have invested $24 billion in NOx control equipment.
By 2020, McIlvaine says, this investment will have risen to $75 billion. However, despite this, NOx emissions will rise from 26 million tonnes this year to 30 million tonnes in 2020. Global coal-fired power plants with NOx reduction technologies installed will total 318 GW in 2010, but this figure will rise to over 1 TW in 2020, equivalent to 70 GW of new systems annually from 2011-20. This forecast includes 150,000 MW of SCR in China by 2020.
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