Cooling Tower Rental Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Rented cooling towers are a great resource and a great way to quickly replace lost cooling capacity until the permanent cooling tower is repaired or replaced. The cooling tower rental market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 4.9% during the forecast period. The impact of COVID-19 on the cooling tower market has been significant. Since the restrictions and shutdowns caused due to the COVID-19 have affected the power generating and refinery industry, factors, such as replacement or repair of existing cooling towers, unplanned outages, and unexpected failure of cooling towers in commercial and industrial applications, are expected to drive the cooling tower rental market. The increasing growth in major end-user applications such as construction, petrochemicals, manufacturing, refining, power utilities, hospitals, etc., across the world is anticipated to fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period. However, factors like highly fragmented and competitive industry and the high cost of installation for a small period are likely to hinder the market's growth over the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• The industrial segment is expected to dominate in the market during the forecast period, owing to the rise in demand from several industrial applications.
• Growth in the nuclear power generation industry, increase in adoption of rented cooling towers in refineries, constructions, and chemical plants, and technological advancements in the cooling tower rental market are likely to provide opportunities in the market.
• North America is expected to have the largest market share in the cooling tower rental market during the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

Industrial Segment to Dominate the Market

• As heat is mostly a byproduct of manufacturing processes operating in an industry, cooling towers are an integral component providing process cooling across a range of applications. Companies usually rent out such equipment from suppliers when in situations like failure or replacement of permanent cooling towers. This requirement is a primary boosting factor for the cooling tower rental market in the segment.
• The industrial segment accounts for the largest share in the market, owing to the growth of end users in the industrial segment. The global cooling tower rental market is categorized into oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, construction, food and beverage, and other industries. Cooling tower rental system supports in recovering from existing cooling tower failure in both planned and emergency situations happening in large industries.
• Industrial cooling towers are a vital component of HVAC systems and are used to remove the heat absorbed in the circulating cooling water systems used in power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, food processing plants, and other industrial facilities.
• In the power generation industry, the demand for cooling towers is expected to increase rapidly, as the demand for electricity is likely to increase in the coming years. Asia-Pacific is one of the main regions in the world where electricity generating capacity and nuclear power industry are witnessing significant growth. For instance, as of September 2020, there were about 135 operable nuclear power reactors in the Asia-Pacific region, and about 35 are under construction. Hence, the growing focus of the Asia-Pacific region on nuclear power plant construction is also expected to contribute positively to the cooling tower rental market's demand over the forecast period.
• Cooling tower rentals provide a cost-effective and energy-efficient operation of systems in need of cooling without affecting the operations during planned/unplanned outages. Wet-type cooling tower rentals are majorly used in the industrial segments. Cooling towers of capacity ranging from above 500 tons are mainly used in large industrial applications, like manufacturing, chemical plants, and oil explorations.

North America to Dominate the Market

• North America has accounted for the major share in the cooling tower rental market, and it is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period.
• The market demand, particularly for wet cooling tower rentals in the North American region, is projected to grow quicker than dry ones due to the increasing demand in power plants, construction and mining, and HVAC systems. The construction, food and beverage, and oil and gas industries in the region contribute more revenue to the cooling tower rental market.
• In North America, the United States leads refinery capacity with almost similar contributions from the expansions of active refinery projects and new-build projects. Cooling towers play a vital role in refineries for producing chilled water from used hot water. Also, the construction sector, which is the most significant contributor to the United States economy, is expected to rise. Thus, growth in refinery capacity is expected to boost the country's cooling tower rental services.
• For instance, as of 2019, North America's refining capacity reached 22,586 thousand barrels per day. Among the North American countries, the United States holds the highest share in terms of the refining capacity (18,974 thousand barrels per day).
• Thus, an increase in the adoption of rental cooling towers in refineries, construction, hospitals, etc., owing to the growth in the industries, and the occurrence of planned/unplanned failures of existing cooling towers are likely to boost the use of rental cooling towers in the region.

Competitive Landscape

The cooling tower rental market is fragmented. Some of the major players in the market include Aggreko PLC, Caterpillar Inc., United Rentals Inc., Johnson Controls International PLC, and SPX Cooling Technologies Inc.

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