Cecilia Xu summarised three specific advantages of the coal-to-gas replacement market: large quantities, quick returns and lack of brand preference. Twelve million units of wall hung boilers were planned to be installed from 2017 to 2021 according to a government document. Although the original plan has been amended during the years, the authorities have not given up in their determination to carry out the Coal-to-Gas projects and the overall “Coal-to-Gas market size” will exceed ten million units by 2021 according to BSRIA’s estimation. The accumulated “Coal-to-Gas wall-hung gas boilers market” will be almost as large as the total regular wall hung gas boilers market in China, which should not be overlooked. Moreover, the Coal-to-Gas market is now dominated by basic products and these are of questionable quality with shorter life and thus, boiler replacement is expected to occur earlier than originally expected. According to BSRIA’s estimation, the replacement market will witness its first peak in 2022 / 2023.
End-users installing their first boilers usually do not have brand awareness, and most of them barely know what a wall hung boiler is. The market is very fragmented; nearly 200 new brands were registered and participated in the Coal-to-Gas market starting from 2016, according to CGAC’s data.
BSRIA has paid close attention to the “Coal-to-Gas market” from the beginning and will continue to monitor developments very closely. Although the “Coal-to-Gas market” is surrounded by uncertain policy, it is still very much worthy of manufacturers’ attention.