Asia Is The Best Region For Gas Turbine Business

Asia offers the best business opportunities for the globally-declining gas turbine market, according to a new report.

A study from analysts at GlobalData states that the worldwide gas turbine market is set to fall from last year’s $8.49 billion to around $7.73 billion by 2021.

The report states that global economic recession and the decrease in the price of gas turbines has heavily impacted market value, with a large number of projects being cancelled or postponed and widespread delays in maintenance projects.

This has left gas turbine companies concentrating on expanding their operations in emerging markets, which offer the best opportunities for growth. GlobalData power analyst Subha Krishnan explains: “In the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific, extensive power plant capacity additions, economic growth, and the need to improve access to electricity are driving the gas turbine market. Rising coal and natural gas production are increasingly earmarked for domestic markets in order to support the region’s rapid economic growth and development, while oil output continues to decline as the most productive fields are progressively exploited and only partially replaced by new production.”

The report states that the region’s primary energy demand is projected to grow at a rate of 2.1 per cent per year until 2035, which is faster than the projected world average of 1.5 per cent per year during the same period.

Due to an increased deployment of gas-based power plants, natural gas demand will increase at a faster rate during this period than coal and oil, meaning its share will rise from 11.4 per cent in 2010 to 17.5 per cent by 2035.

Krishnan added: “As most APAC economies, including China, India, Indonesia and Thailand, are looking to build new generation capacity, the low price of gas is also projected to boost its share in the overall energy generation mix of many countries. The use of gas and renewable energy is increasingly promoted by governments in the region to address the rising energy demand and need for reducing carbon emissions.

Credit: Ansaldo Energia

“Despite the rising price of coal, the commercialization of renewable energy continues to be an expensive option for utility companies. As a result, revenue for coal-based generation technologies is expected to climb over the forecast period, and the gas power market in the APAC region, though small when compared to the coal sector, is expected to expand considerably in the near future.”

GE is to introduce its 9HA gas turbine to China for the first time after signing a deal for a 650 MW combined-cycle plant with Harbin Electric Corp.

The turbine will be installed at the Huadian Tianjin Junliangcheng VI plant, which is being converted from a coal-fired power station.

Joe Mastrangelo, president of GE Gas Power Systems, called the deal a “milestone” for both the company and for China. “Bringing the HA to China is important for the acceleration of China’s power industry, enabling more affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable power generation.”

GE said that the combined-cycle power plant featuring the 9HA turbine “is well positioned to answer the nation’s call for cleaner energy and infrastructure improvement”.

Filippo Abba, chief executive of Ansaldo Energia, is also targeting Asia for the company’s gas turbine technologies and services.

“We have signed a couple of MoUs with Chinese customers for the GT36 50 HZ. That will be installed in the Shanghai area with the delivery of the equipment in late 2018. Definitely we will have some items in operation pretty soon and this would represent a good starting point for our GT 36 launch.”

“China is proving to be very, very focused on emissions and emissions control, and the opportunities for us in that country are big. One of our major shareholders, Shanghai Electric, is definitely helping in developing some opportunities in the area. Last year, our fleet there was in the top part of the selling rank, and I look at Asia and China as the breakthrough market for our GT 36. We will later roll it out to the rest of the world, with the 50 HZ first and the 60 HZ a little bit later.”