Natural gas fired power has sound futureThe long-term prospects for natural gas fired power are "sound," especially in North America and Europe, according to research from Frost & Sullivan. Because of its relatively clean burning characteristics and flexible operating capabilities, gas-fired power generation should grow across the globe. Further, an increasingly negative view of coal in developed regions, high natural gas availability and extremely low natural gas prices in North America, and the shale gas production boom are all leading to the replacement of many coal-fired plants with natural gas based plants. "It is probable that in the short term, gas-based plants will also have delays associated with the availability of finance, exacerbated by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, which erodes market confidence, and liquidity of the banking sector," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Director, Harald Thaler. "Moreover, electricity consumption in many countries of the developed world has still not recovered to pre-crisis levels." However, over the medium and long term, gas-fired generation will benefit from the issues associated with coal and nuclear. "The leading regions for gas-fired power plant orders during the current decade will be the Middle East and China," said Thaler. "The global market will be sustained by the burgeoning demand for new plants in emerging economies as well as replacement demand arising from decommissioning of old coal-fired power plants, particularly in Europe and North America." For more: |