VIENNA, Austria - The pipeline industry is continuing to grow worldwide. To provide increased security of the energy and water supply, and with hostile environmental conditions in many locations, the pipeline protection market is expanding to meet the expanded requirements of the pipeline industry. Noru Tsalic, Consultant at Applied Market Information, has valued the pipe coating market at around five billion euros in 2009 and predicts expansion to 6.5 billion euros by 2013. Tsalic spoke in February at the annual AMI Conference on Pipeline Coating in Vienna, Austria.

The highest demand for coatings is in Asia with 23 percent market share, Europe is next at 19 percent, and then NAFTA and the CIS states follow at 17 percent each. There are a variety of different types of coatings providing different functions, with concrete having the highest value sector at 42 percent, external anticorrosion having a value of 38 percent, internal coatings with a value of 11 percent and thermal insulation with a value of 9 percent. The gas and oil industries use most of the coated pipeline, with a small fraction being used in the water distribution sector. There is a newly developing market for pipelines in carbon capture and storage. The International Energy Agency predicts the need for 43,000 kilometers by around 2030 for 1.44 Gt of carbon dioxide capture per annum.

Europe currently imports 54 percent of its energy requirements each year, and this will rise to 70 percent in 2030 as its resources are depleted, according to Denso. This is driving the push to build new pipelines, which include Nord Stream, OPAL and NEL. Nord Stream is around 1019 kilometers long and will carry gas from Russia to Europe, where the OPAL and NEL pipelines will connect it to the existing network in Central and Western Europe. The basic external coating (by Mulheim Pipe Coating) comprises fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) primer, copolymer adhesive, HDPE and finally a sintered PE rough coat to prevent slipping.