Trends in the markets for Power Engineering

The individual markets in the power engineering segment will again develop at different rates in 2014.

In the merchant shipbuilding market, we expect order volumes to remain at the level of the previous year on account of the continuing overcapacity. Energy efficiency and pollution control will largely determine the future of ship design. We also anticipate strong sales of special ships in 2014, including ships for offshore applications, LNG tankers, cruise ships and government vessels.

Growth in the power generation market will be determined by macroeconomic developments, especially in the emerging economies, where we anticipate a further slight recovery in 2014. In addition to global population growth, the burgeoning demand for energy and the trend towards more decentralized energy supplies are among the main factors. Natural gas-fired power plants will play an increasingly important role. There is also potential to be tapped in the growing demand for combined heat and power (CHP) plants and the need to stabilize the networks using peaking power plants, especially in connection with the increased use of renewable energies.

In the processing industry, we do not anticipate any improvement in the general environment in 2014. Despite high long-term demand for primary materials, the number of new contracts awarded will hover around the prior-year level. The price pressure will continue unabated.

The market outlook in the oil and gas industry is encouraging. We are seeing heavy investment in the exploitation of new deep sea oil reserves and pumping technology. The trend towards using natural gas as an alternative to oil is generally having a positive effect in all key regions. We therefore anticipate slight growth in the oil and gas industry in 2014.

The future in the offshore wind market in Germany is fraught with uncertainty. A positive outlook is not expected until the infrastructural and political framework has been clarified, something that is unlikely to happen in 2014. Going forward, sales opportunities could arise in other regions of the world as well.

We expect that the markets for power engineering will continue to record an increase in overall demand in the period 2015 to 2018.