The Western European power plant services market is likely to experience stable growth even as it shifts from coal-fired power plants to gas-fired. Revenue growth will be supported by the sale of Long Term Service Agreements (LTSAs) with the new build gas-fired power plants, according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.energy.frost.com), Western European Power Plant Services Markets, which finds that the markets earned revenues of €2.50 billion in 2011 and estimates this to reach €2.84 billion in 2018.
“A key market driver will be an ageing fleet of power plants,” noted Frost & Sullivan research analyst Neelam Patil. “The continued trend of LTSAs for gas turbines and the willingness of power utilities to outsource operations and maintenance activities to third-party service providers will drive revenue growth for services.”
Western Europe’s continued focus on energy efficiency is resulting in the rapid replacement of large, steam-fired power generation facilities by more compact and efficient combined cycle gas-fired power plants. New build gas-fired power plants are often sold with high value LTSAs, resulting in revenue growth for the power plant services market.
However, the increasing share of renewable energy is limiting the prospects of conventional, fossil fuel power generation. This, in turn, is narrowing the opportunities for conventional power plant services. Additionally, the continued economic difficulties in Europe are negatively affecting demand for electricity. Thus, power plants are operating for fewer fired hours, while postponing any high-value maintenance activity, further impacting services market revenue.
Nonetheless, service revenues are expected to be stable as they change to accommodate evolving power plant needs. For instance, the focus is on improving the operational flexibility of coal-fired plants in order to avoid supply-demand disruptions caused by the intermittent nature of wind and solar power.
“Another trend is the investments in condition based monitoring systems to help minimise unplanned turbine outages and maximise turbine energy output and revenue generation,” concluded Patil. “Service providers can focus on developing more advanced solutions to reduce risk, cost of energy and improve the performance of power plants.”
For more information send an e-mail with your contact details to Chiara Carella, Corporate Communications, at chiara.carella@frost.com.
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