Flue-Gas Desulphurisation Market to Witness Fluctuating Growth by 2020

The flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) market will witness a varying level of growth over the coming years, increasing from $2.8 billion in 2012 to a peak of $4.3 billion by 2016, before reaching $3.7 billion by 2020, says a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData (UK).

According to the company’s latest report, the expected increase in the FGD market value will be driven primarily by high coal dependency, increasing awareness of air pollution and stringent emissions regulations, which will boost the number of FGD system installations over the coming years.

China and the US will be the main contributors towards the FGD market growth, with China in particular representing 65.5% of global installations between 2013 and 2020 – almost double the rest of the world’s installations, at 34.5%.

Swati Singh, Analyst for GlobalData, says: “The low quality and high sulphur content of the coal found in China has made the country’s sulphur emissions very high; however, with emissions regulations in place, FGD system installations have received a favourable push in the country, and China is now one of the largest markets for this equipment in the world.

“Meanwhile, as the level of sulphur emissions from power plants in the US reached around 15.73 million tons in 1990, policies and regulations were formed to reduce not only these emissions, but also other pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, particulates and mercury. As with China, the US FGD systems market has greatly benefited from the resulting surge in demand for equipment used in reducing air pollution.”

However, a number of barriers will prevent a more steady increase in FGD market value over the coming years. These include the high cost of FGD systems, along with the impact of alternative sources of energy.

Singh continues: “Developed and developing countries are increasingly investing in alternative fuels, such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and nuclear, in order to meet the rising demands for electricity.

“We expect these energy sources to pose a significant threat to the FGD market in the long term, as reductions in the share of fossil fuels for electricity generation will result directly in fewer sales of the FGD equipment needed to control emissions from fossil fuel power plants,” the analyst concludes.