Market Trends of Industrial Insulation Industry
Power Generation Industry to Dominate the Market
- The power generation industry stands to be the dominant segment, owing to stringent regulations mandating the use of industrial insulation to conserve energy and achieve efficiency in operations.
- In the power generation industry, industrial insulation is used to cover a variety of equipment, such as steam pipes, heat storage tanks, and boilers. Calcium silicate is one of the most common materials used to insulate power plants. It is used to insulate high-temperature pipes and equipment and for fire endurance applications.
- According to Enerdata, the total electricity generation in the world in 2022 was around 29,031 terawatt-hours, approximately 6.45% more than the previous year's electricity generation. The Asian region witnessed the highest growth in power generation followed by Middle-East and Africa.
- Since so much electricity is made every year, it is likely that the need for insulation materials will also go up a lot. One of the main applications for insulation is in power cables or transmission lines.
- According to Power Technology, the top three longest power transmission lines in the world as of 2021 were in Brazil. With a length of 2,543 kilometers, the Belo Monte-Rio de Janeiro transmission line came in first, followed by the Rio Madeira transmission link and the Belo Monte-Estreito line, respectively.
- According to the United States Department of Energy, approximately 200 miles of electrical transmission lines were covered in the United States in 2021. About 52% of the total length done that year was for projects with voltages of up to 230 kilovolts.
- Many projects are underway to lay the transmission line for the safe transmission of power from one location to another. PacifiCorp's Southeastern Idaho project, for example, scheduled to be finished in April 2022, aimed to replace outdated transmission lines with newer ones to fulfill the region's rising demand for electrical power. The project required a multi-stage electrical system upgrade from Goshen Substation near Firth, Idaho, to Rexburg Substation in Rexburg, Idaho.
- With the rising number of power plants across the globe, the demand for industrial insulation materials is also expected to gain pace during the forecast period.
Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Market
- Asia-Pacific stands to be the largest and fastest-growing market for the construction and power generation industries. Factors, such as the increasing need for energy conservation and ensuring stringent regulatory norms by the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) standards, are driving the industry's insulation requirements in Asia-Pacific.
- According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022, the total electricity generation in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021 was close to 14,000 terawatt-hours, holding the largest share of the total electricity generated in the world. China was the largest electricity-generating country in the world with a total generation of 8,534 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2021, as stated by BP.
- As the amount of electricity made in the area went up, so did the need for power cables to insulate the electricity.As of 2021, two of China's electricity transmission lines are included in the top five longest transmission lines in the world. The first is the Jinping-Sunan transmission line, which is 2,090 km long, followed by the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai transmission line, which is about 1,980 km long.
- According to the Ministry of Power, Government of India, the country has become one of the largest synchronously interconnected electricity grids in the world with 4,63,758 circuit kilometers of transmission line and 11,56,105 MVA of transformation capacity as of January 2023.
- According to the Office of Industrial Economics (Thailand), electric wire sales in Thailand were valued at over THB 1.37 billion (~USD 42 million) as of February 2022, up from THB 1.26 billion (USD 38 million) in January 2022. Further, during the same month, the total production volume of such commodities was around 5,000 tons.
- In its report, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism also said that 50 of Japan's largest builders received orders to build electric power lines worth about JPY 258.36 billion (~USD 2.35 billion) during the fiscal year 2021.
- Electric insulating materials are also essential in the electric vehicle industry. Electrical insulation is constructed of non-conductive materials and is used to control the flow of electricity and protect sensitive components.
- Insulators also protect the electric vehicle's battery management system, power electronics controllers, DC charging stations, and onboard chargers.According to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales of new energy vehicles increased by 93.4% in 2022 over 2021. By the end of 2022, there would have been around 6.8 million new energy vehicle sales in China, up from only about 3.5 million sales for the entire year in 2021. Undoubtedly, the increase in EV sales and manufacturing in the nation will increase market demand.
- In the Asia-Pacific region, the market for electrical insulation material is expected to grow in the coming years because more industries are using electricity and more electronics and electrical goods are being made.