Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The flue gas desulfurization (FGD) is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4.80% during the forecast period of 2020 - 2025. Rising awareness about air pollution, owing to the increasing global warming and environmental degradation is attributed to drive the demand of flue gas desulphurization, globally. However, the industrial sector slowdown in some of the major regions as Asia-Pacific and North America is acting as restraint in flue gas desulfurization market. Additionally, the significantly increasing share of renewables in the power generation capacity, globally, which reduces the generation of flue gases and hence leading to the decrease in the demand for flue gas desulfurization.

Key Highlights

• The power generation industry is expected to have the maximum share in the flue gas desulfurization market, in 2018, owing the need for reduction of sulfur from the large scale generated flue gases from the coal and gas based power plants.
• The imposition of IMO 2020, from January 2020, globally is expected to act as an opportunity in the market of flue gas sulfurization market.
• Asia-Pacific is estimated to have the maximum share of the flue gas desulfurization market, in 2018. Additionally, the growth rate of the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the highest during the forecast period, primarily due to the presence of manufacturing base in the emerging economies, such as China and India, and the faster growing demand for power over the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

Increasing Demand from Power Generation Sector

• Power plants are the largest sources of emission of SO2, mercury, and acid gases. In the power sector, coal accounts for about 98% of SO2 emissions, 94% of mercury emissions, 86% of NOx emissions, and 83% of fine particulate emissions.
• As of 2018, about 38% of the global power is generated using coal. Due to its abundance and ease of transport, the private energy producers prefer coal over clean natural gas. The large-scale use of coal pollutes the environment with toxins and contributes to global warming.
• The growing concerns regarding environmental pollution and the governments’ actions to curb the same are driving the growth of the FGD market. Stringent international and government regulations, such as the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, enforce the installation of systems that monitor and curb emissions to bring them to a safer level in power generation companies using fossil fuels.
• The number of coal-based power plants shutting down is increasing in the developed regions, such as the United States and Europe, as the prices of alternative sources (such as renewables) continue to drop. Despite the shrinking number of coal-based power plants globally, the developing countries (such as China, India, etc.) are still endorsing the new coal-based power generation projects, owing to growing power demand and relative lower prices of coal compared to other options.
• Additionally, despite the declining investments in nuclear energy in developed nations of Europe, Japan, and the United States, the global new nuclear power generation capacity is growing rapidly, mainly driven by the developing nations such as China, India, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. During 2015-2017, at an average, ten reactors were commissioned every year and in 2018, nine new reactors were commissioned, globally.
• Hence, the growth of the power generation sector, has been driving the demand for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) over the study period.

Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Market

• Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the market for flue gas desulfurization and also to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period.
• Owing to the flourishing economic conditions in the region, there has been a spur in the industrial activities in the region. Hence, it has resulted in increase in the air pollution. CO2 emissions in Asia-Pacific region grew from 13,994 MT in 2010 to 16,744.1 MT in 2018.
• In 2018, coal-fired power generation in India grew by 5% compared to 2017. Additionally, the share of coal in India’s primary energy consumption was 55.88% in 2018. Thus, the extensive use of coal for fulfilling the growing energy demand has been resulting in significant carbon emissions in the county.
• China’s 13th Five-Year (2016-2020) Plan for Economic and Social Development holds commitments for improving air quality and controlling emissions. The five-year plan commits to reduce emissions and ensure compliance with the emissions standards.
• Additionally, cement manufacturing sector also plays a vital in the Australian economy. Rising investments and industrial activities, owing to rapid growth in population growth, have been propelling the growth of cement manufacturing in the country. In turn leading to the increase in the demand for FGD in the market of Australia.
• Therefore, increasing emissions and the efforts to control the emissions in the region are expected to increase the demand for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) over the forecast period in Asia-Pacific region.

Competitive Landscape

The flue gas sulfurization (FGD) market is partially fragmented, due to the several small number of companies operating in the industry. Some of the key players in this market include Andritz AG, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd, Thermax Ltd, John Wood Group PLC, and Babcock & and Wilcox Enterprises Inc.

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