Growth of Gas Turbine Market in BRIC-Showing Optimistic Trends

Friday 13 January 2012, Amsterdam

Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively known as the BRIC countries) are potentially powerful emerging economies and present new, attractive markets for investors. According to estimates, the BRIC countries alone account for more than 50% of total infrastructure investments happening in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the BRIC countries are expected to generate 21.6% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2015. At present, 15% of the total global gas turbine market revenue comes from the BRIC nations. The main reason behind that is their increasing demand for electricity due to their huge populations. China and India are the most populous countries in the world. Around 22% of the world’s electricity is consumed in China alone.

Power generation in the BRIC countries is supported by the huge amount of natural resources present in these countries. Russia has the largest gas reserves in the world. The availability of natural reserves and resources and rising electricity demand in all the BRIC countries will drive their gas turbine markets in the future.


The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) gas turbine market is expected to experience a considerable growth over the forecast period, growing from $1,432 in 2005 to $2,623 in 2015. The major contributing factor for the growth will be the growing environmental concerns. At present, BRIC nations are heavily dependent on coal for fulfilling their power needs. But gradually BRIC’s focus is shifting towards gas-based power generation due to its clean nature. The major part of gas turbine revenue comes from China and Russia .So any fluctuation in these markets directly affects the entire BRIC scenario.

The economic crisis in 2008 affected the Chinese gas turbine market badly, thus the BRIC gas turbine also reflected the same.  At present, the market is in a revival phase. The future looks promising, with many gas-fired projects scheduled to go live in the next few years..


Key Players - Ruling the BRIC Gas Turbine Market

General Electric (GE) has been the market leader in the gas turbine segment for many consecutive years, both globally and in the BRIC countries. The reason behind this is its vast product range and reputation in the market. The company has the widest range of gas turbines in the market. GE’s heavy duty gas turbines come in 11 to 340 Megawatt (MW) forms, and its small heavy duty gas turbines range from 5 MW to nearly 50 MW. The company has an installed fleet of 7,000 gas turbines worldwide. GE’s gas turbines are known for their high reliability, high efficiency, operational flexibility and reduced emissions.

Siemens is another leading player in the market, with 15 models of gas turbines ranging from 4 MW to 375 MW capacity. Siemens also has good presence worldwide but the majority of its revenue comes from America.
Other big players in the BRIC gas market are Shanghai Electric Group Company Ltd, Harbin Turbine Co. Ltd., Hyundai Engineering, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Alstom SA.