According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, "Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) Boilers (Subcritical, Supercritical, Ultra Supercritical) Market for Power Generation - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the global CFB boilers' installed capacity was 60 GWe in 2011 and is expected to reach 134.19 GWe in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 12.2% from 2012 to 2018.
The primary factor responsible for the rising number of CFB installations is the fuel flexibility offered by these boilers. They can produce energy using a variety of fuels apart from coal, such as peat and biomass. In addition, due to lower operating temperatures of CFB boilers, they produce fairly low levels of harmful gases such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, as compared to the conventional PC fired boilers. The growing environmental norms have augmented the development of the CFB boilers market and are expected to drive the market over the forecast period. However, the market could be hampered in the event of design flaws in the boiler which is likely to lead to depositions and corrosion of the boiler surface.
China had the largest installed base for CFB boilers and along with Japan and Australia accounted for over 35% of the global installed capacity in 2011. Europe and South East Asia (SEA) followed this region in terms of installed capacity for CFB boilers. India was a relatively small segment of the CFB boiler market in 2011 but is expected to witness substantial growth over the forecast period owing to the rapid development of the country. North America has comparable installed capacity for CFB boilers but the growth in this region is expected as an outcome of up gradation of old CFB boilers.
Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boilers have witnessed substantial growth over the past couple of years owing to the increased need for power coupled with stricter emission norms which resulted in the need for...