NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        NOVEMBER 2015

52 Companies Buy 52 Percent of All the NOx Control Reagents Purchased by Stationary Sources

Sales of NOx control reagents for coal-fired power plants will reach $3 billion in 2016. This represents 75 percent of the reagents which will be purchased for stationary applications. Seven companies will account for 44 percent of the purchases by coal-fired power plants and 33 percent of the purchases by all stationary sources.

NOx Control Reagent Purchases  
# Of Corp

SCR/SNCR Capacity   For Each

MW x 1000

Total MW 1000

% of Total

Coal-fired  Installed Base

Reagent

Purchases

$ Millions

% of  Total

$26 

Billion

Examples
7 Over 50 575 44 1,320 33 Big 5 Chinese Corp
10 10-50 150 12 360 9 AEP, TVA, Duke, Enel, EON
15 5-10 105 8 240 6 NRG, Xcel, Tokyo Electric, Chubu   Electric
20 3-5 80 6 180 4.5 AES, EPDC, RWE, CEZ
52 Sub total 910 70 2,100 52  
350 0-3 390 30 900 22 U.S., Europe, China
404 Total 1,300 100 3,000 74  

Operators of coal-fired power plants inject nitrogen compounds in one form or another into the exhaust gas to react with the NOx. The result of the reaction is nitrogen and water. This process reduces up to 95 percent of ozone and smog producing NOx.

The nitrogen compound formulation is largely determined by economics and safety considerations.   The least expensive compound is anhydrous ammonia. It is routinely used by farmers but does create safety hazards if not handled carefully. Aqueous ammonia includes enough water to minimize safety concerns but adds a cost to the process.  Solid urea can be delivered to the power plant and converted to ammonia on site.  This option requires investment in capital equipment.

Typically, power plants near cities opt for alternatives to anhydrous ammonia while those in rural areas use the lower cost option. China has chosen the use of urea with on-site conversion for most of its power plants.  It has the most NOx control installations, so its selection has reduced the dominance of anhydrous.

The 5 largest Chinese suppliers are among the top 7 NOx system operators in the world.  These 7 companies will buy 44 percent of the NOx control reagents in 2016. The next 10 companies, most of whom are U.S.-based, will account for 12 percent of the reagent purchased by power plants and 9 percent of all the reagent purchased by stationary sources.

The concentration of the reagent purchases into this small group of companies means that suppliers can sell directly throughout the world.  There are purity differences in ammonia and other reasons that suppliers can provide value beyond purchased cost.  McIlvaine has developed a program to help suppliers focus on the large purchasers. Detailed Forecasting of Markets, Prospects and Projects.

This program combines the following:

N035 NOx Control World Market

42EI Utility Tracking System

59EI Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program

Industrial Air Plants and Projects