Although coal still remains a key fuel source for base-load power generation in Asia, solar power is expected to be the fastest growing power generation technology in 2016, says Frost & Sullivan.
By the end of 2015, the annual solar power capacity additions in the region is expected to reach 25.6 GW and increase up to 33 GW in 2016 with an annual growth rate of 28.9 percent.
APAC will continue to remain a strong market for solar power with demand led by China, India, and Japan. This positive growth will result in strong investments from the private sector both in the upstream and downstream segment of the solar industry value chain.
The price of oil is expected to remain low as OPEC countries decide to keep oil production output at record high levels. The majority of the APAC economies will stand to benefit from low oil prices, thus stimulating economic growth.
Oil producing countries such as Malaysia and Brunei have to brace for impact from lower revenues in the oil sector, whereas oil importing countries such as Japan, China and India stand to gain from the current market condition. Singapore and Indonesia are expected to experience low to moderate benefits from the impact of the low oil price.
With the increased global liquefaction capacity from the Australian CSG-LNG projects, LNG prices are expected to remain low. Over 40 MMTPA (15 percent of the current global capacity) is expected to be commissioned in 2016, Frost said.
Also, T&D Grid Investments in the region is expected to be US$126 billion in 2016, mainly led by China at US$78.3 billion, followed by India and Japan at US$15.4 billion and US$12.6 billion respectively.
According to Frost, growing need for integrating renewable energy into the power grid is driving significant interest in community and grid-scale Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) in 2016 mainly driven by Japan, China, and South Korea. Australia and Japan would be the key markets for residential energy storage during the same period.
The ICT industry is witnessing large scale data centre construction frenzy, which will create MW class opportunities for critical power solutions. The focus of the data centres are rapidly shifting from efficiency to sustainability. Adoption of modular, pre-fabricated and containerized data centre solutions is also expected to increase rapidly.
The growing focus on sustainable technologies and the green building movement in China and India will provide a boost to Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) adoption. In the Asia Pacific region alone, the IFM market size is expected to grow from US$15.6 billion in 2015 to US$16.6 billion in 2016 with a CAGR of 6.4 percent. The China and India markets alone are expected to account for 8.3 percent and 4.7 percent of the total APAC market respectively by 2019.
Governments across APAC will undertake transformational shifts in mitigating and adapting to climate change. In a growing quest to become a responsible economy, lenders including OECD are cutting back financing for non-clean coal projects. Disaster management plans will also be localized and customized according to city infrastructure layout, socio-economic demographics, and irrigation capabilities.
The industrial sector is expected to remain the most dynamic end-user in Singapore’s water industry amidst developments in water filtration technologies. With new membranes and material science advancements, current membrane technologies are expected to become obsolete.
Water sustainability has always been a key concern for Singapore due to scarcity of natural freshwater sources. Through public education efforts and prudent water management, consumers will become more proactive in the management of individual water supply systems and water consumption. Smart technology integration with other resource management systems in new homes such as energy consumption and solid waste management will drive the market.
Rajani Baburajan
editor@greentechlead.com