NEWS RELEASE                                   May 2004

Largest Air Pollution Investment In History of the World

The Interstate Air Quality Rule (IAQR also known as CAIR) will be implemented, and by 2010 will have generated the largest air pollution investment of any rule in the history of the world.  This is the prediction of the McIlvaine Company in its online report, FGD: World Markets.

Amid all the controversy over the mercury rule and new source review, the impact of IAQR has been overlooked.  The Administration has bypassed Congress and has proposed a rule which is sailing along virtually unopposed.  Consequently, it will be promulgated at the end of this year.  It will require an investment of over $15 billion for scrubbers, and a somewhat lesser amount for selective catalytic reduction systems.

“The market for power plant scrubbers over the next five years will be far higher than at any previous time”, says Bob McIlvaine, President of McIlvaine.  All the retrofits which have been on hold in the U.S. for thirty years are finally being ordered.  At the same time, a significant number of new coal-fired boilers with scrubbers are being ordered.  Also, over the next few years, the Chinese market will compare to the U.S. in size.  When some activity in Europe is added in, it will be boom time for the world’s scrubber companies.

Companies which stand to benefit from the U.S. boom market in wet scrubbing systems includes the long time participants such as Alstom, Babcock Power, Babcock & Wilcox, Marsulex, and Wheelabrator.  Already Alstom and Babcock & Wilcox have many hundreds of millions of dollars of orders on the books.  Offshore competition has entered the picture.  Mitsubishi already has a sizable order from TVA.  Lurgi is actively bidding projects.

Dry scrubbers provide an alternative approach.  Hamon is offering equipment in this sector, as are most of the wet scrubber suppliers.

Offshore companies are also benefiting from the Chinese Market.  Mitsubishi and IHI have significant orders.  Babcock & Wilcox already has booked more than 6,000 MW of systems in China through its two partners.  Marsulex has had significant orders in China.

FGD: World Markets provides forecasts of scrubbing systems for every country of the world.  Market shares for all the major players are also provided.  For more information on this report click on Click here.