NEWS RELEASE                                                                                         MAY 2012

Investment in Fossil and Nuclear Plants Will Exceed $736 Billion in 2013

Fossil and nuclear power plants will invest $736 billion on new equipment and repair parts in 2013.   Sixty-five percent of the investment will be in coal-fired power plants. This is the latest finding in Fossil & Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis & Forecast, published by the McIlvaine Company.

2013 Fossil-fired and Nuclear Power Generation Market

Despite the virtual moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in the U.S., the rest of the world will spend $256 billion on new coal-fired power plants in 2013. This contrasts with only $60 billion for gas turbine systems. Repair parts and upgrades of existing coal-fired power plants will generate revenues greater than the combined new power plant and repair investments by nuclear and gas turbine combined.

The future competition among these three major fuels will be shaped by a number of factors. The greatest variable is the quantity of shale gas which can be economically produced. The U.S. has potentially enough shale gas to meet present requirements for thirty years. China has even greater reserves but they are located deeper and will be more expensive to extract. Furthermore, the Chinese shale gas industry is in its infancy. Even with its most ambitious plan, China’s gas production would only be eight percent of that in the U.S. in 2020.

The efforts to reduce greenhouse gases will virtually eliminate new coal-fired power plants as an option in certain countries but the large investment in these power plants by other countries will result in coal-fired power continuing to be the most popular option.

Nuclear generation growth will also be highly regionalized. Some countries will not only avoid building new nuclear power plants but will phase out existing ones. Other countries will be big investors in nuclear power. Nevertheless, this fuel option will continue to remain in third place far behind coal.

For more information on Fossil & Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis & Forecast, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#n043