Electric Power Industry Project Spending in 2010: Construction, Maintenance, and Retrofits, a "Navigating the Currents of Change" Webcast on Industrialinfo.com

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Project spending this year in the U.S. electric power industry will be driven by three trends, according to Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for electric power: building new windfarms and gas-fired power projects, upgrading and modernizing existing fossil-fueled power plants, and installing environmental retrofits at power stations.

"For the remainder of 2010, we see a lot of spending to build new renewable power projects, chiefly windfarms, and quite a lot of work to upgrade and modernize existing fossil fuel power plants," Burt said in an exclusive "Navigating the Currents of Change" interview. "We also are tracking construction of a large number of natural gas-fired power projects that are scheduled to kick off this year."

Burt sees construction of gas-fired power plants as an important part of the near-term future of the electricity business. "I believe we are on the cusp of another natural gas build-out, though not as dramatic as we saw in 2000 and 2001," Burt said. Building gas-fired power plants carries lower environmental risks while lawmakers and regulators continue their efforts to lower industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Once the Power Industry has greater certainty about allowable emissions levels, Burt sees a rising level of future spending for environmental retrofits at power plants. "We are tracking about $5 billion in spending on Power Industry environmental retrofits with a scheduled 2010 kickoff date," he said. "That's significantly lower than in previous years, and it's due to the uncertainty over environmental laws and regulations. I expect it will be 2011 or 2012 before we begin to see project spending increase in this area."

For projects scheduled to kick off in 2010 and beyond, Industrial Info is tracking about $15 billion in spending opportunities. Burt said he expects this number to go up "substantially" once there is greater clarity about the regulation of industrial emissions.

All of these strategic industry trends will be discussed at the upcoming Electric Power Conference & Exhibition, which will be held May 18-20 at the Baltimore Convention Center. IIR will be exhibiting at Booth 1613. "At our booth we'll be demonstrating our Coal-Fired Generation Database, our Environmental Compliance Database, and our GenStack Emissions Database--all tools that help equipment and service providers to the Power Industry identify potential project spending opportunities," Burt said.

In addition to its exhibit, IIR also will hold a series of briefings to help Electric Power attendees grow their business in 2010 and beyond:

• North American Power Industry Outlook: May 18 at 12:00 noon; May 19 at 12:00 noon



• Twenty-Ten Industrial Market Spending Forecast: May 18 at 12:45 pm; May 19 at 12:45 pm



• Using Multimedia to Gain Market Share: May 18 at 2:00 pm; May 19 at 2:00 pm



• Client User-Training: Discover What's New with IIR's Online Database Tools: PECWeb, May 18 at 3:00 pm; PowerTracker, May 19 at 3:00 pm

All events are complimentary, but registration is limited. Click here to register for a session or to learn more.

Burt encourages engineering and construction firms and equipment and service suppliers with an interest in the electric power business to attend the Electric Power conference and exhibition. "This is an important event for the electric power industry. Attendees can get key information about where the industry is headed in terms of different trends, project spending, and plant maintenance activity. There are also a lot of technological insights on everything from coal-handling to generating electricity to environmental control systems," said Burt.

"We encourage our customers and potential customers to visit the IIR booth at Electric Power to see our full line of tools that can identify business opportunities in the marketplace for all types of industrial equipment providers and service companies," Burt said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to connect with our clients, strengthen relationships, demonstrate enhancements to our tools, and meet with potential clients."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.