TPT May 2016

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

• US clean-energy investment rose to $56bn last year, up 7.5 per cent from 2014. Most of this, $30.2bn, went to solar. Investors pumped $11.6bn into wind energy and $11.1bn into technology to improve grids, boost efficiency, develop storage systems, and other methods to better manage power usage. › According to BNEF, natural gas-fired plants accounted for 25 per cent of the capacity added to US power grids last year. Nearly one third of all electricity in the country is now generated by gas, bringing it close to parity with coal. A record number of coal plants were shuttered in 2015, with 11GW of capacity going offline by the end of October and another 3GW slated to close. Natural gas, meanwhile, continues to surge. “It looks good for gas to be a larger share of electricity generation than coal in 2016,” said Ms Regan. Oi l and gas › While falling oil prices continue to impact the global pipeline industry, mainly in North America, World Onshore Pipelines Market Forecast 2015–2019 encourages optimism. The report, from British market research firm Douglas- Westwood, asserts that the pipeline market “is well cushioned from short-term commodity price fluctuations, with projects typically responsive to long-term demand and supply trends.” Douglas-Westwood expects pipeline expenditure to grow by $220bn (14 per cent) over that span of years, with approximately 192,000 miles of pipeline installed globally. This compares to the $193 billion growth, and 11 per cent increase in installations, over the five years to 2014. Factors cited in support of a favourable outlook include population growth in both new and existing urban centres, greater hydrocarbon supply, and a shift towards gas in energy preferences. According to Douglas-Westwood, North America and Asia will remain the highest-volume pipeline markets through to 2019, accounting for approximately 45 per cent of global capital investment in pipeline construction. But the fastest growth is anticipated for the Middle East.

In Chicago, ArcelorMittal – the world’s only producer of ASTM A913 steel, Grades 65 and 70 – is providing 2,789 tons of the material, in column sections. And 150 North Riverside will be the only building in the US to incorporate it. Between floors 8 and 54 the structure is a typical glass- skinned skyscraper. But a steel cantilever holding the first floor some 100ft off the ground supports seven storeys of columns whose placement creates a peg-legged effect. A necessity of the awkward foundation area, sandwiched between railroad tracks and the water, the unorthodox profile commands attention from those on the architecture-themed tour boats that ply the Chicago River. › According to Robert Chmielowski of Magnusson Klemencic Associates, designers and structural engineers on the project, ArcelorMittal offered the most cost-effective solution to the steel requirements of 150 North Riverside. He told the NWI Times , “The larger sections and high-strength material provided the only off-the-shelf sections that could resist the large forces.” Energy ‘Clean power’ in the US outstrips fossil fuels for the second straight year, and natural gas nearly over takes coal Renewable energy was the biggest source of new power added to US electricity grids in 2015 as falling prices and government incentives made wind and solar increasingly attractive options when compared with fossil fuels. Developers installed 16 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy last year, or 68 per cent of all new capacity. Bloomberg Business reporter Joe Ryan also noted that this marked the second year that more power was generated from alternative sources than from fossil fuels. The information comes from the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), which follows alternative energy. (“Clean-Power Revolution Eclipsing Fossil Fuels on US Grid,” (4 February) Wind farms accounted for most of the growth, with 8.5GW of new turbines installed as developers sought to take advantage of a federal tax credit that was due to expire at the end of 2016. Congress extended it in December. “This is a long-term trend,” said Colleen Regan, a BNEF analyst who follows North American power markets. “System costs have really come down for renewables, which makes the case for installing them a lot stronger.”

Automot i ve

Already at 85 to 90 per cent capacity utilisation, US automotive suppliers struggle with production scheduling John Wiegand of the Michigan-based news site Mibiz. com noted that, last year, the US automotive industry saw several high-profile deals among large automotive suppliers. In November, BorgWarner, an Auburn Hills manufacturer of

Other BNEF findings reported by Mr Ryan:

• Demand for energy in the US held steady last year, even as GDP grew 2.4 per cent. Since 2007, US energy consumption has dropped 2.4 per cent while GDP has grown by 10 per cent.

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M AY 2016