Business Opportunities
Our success depends, in part, on the success of demonstrations performed with utility customers and the resulting contract awards to meet the MATS requirements in the long-term period and our operational performance with EGUs under contract. With over 800 coal-fired EGUs in the U.S. affected by MATS, MEEC has a near-term business goal to achieve at least 5-10% of this available market.
In the U.S., we have won contracts on 15 EGU’s, and expect that we will conduct numerous demonstrations on prospective customer units in the coming years. Our technology has been running for three years on two boilers in the western U.S. When we are fully operational under MATS compliance mercury capture rates of 90%, we expect that our value proposition will be fully demonstrated. It is important for the utility industry to see MEEC fully demonstrating that its patented approach for mercury control at MATS levels of mercury reduction. We feel that further contract wins in 2015 and beyond will come because of the success that utilities will have in complying with MATS with us, versus our competitors offerings, all of which will be evidenced beginning this year when MATS compliance begins.
Another major opportunity for us is in Canada, where there is a Country-wide mercury reduction agreement among all the provinces that required a 60% reduction in 2012, and which will likely require an 80% reduction beginning in 2018, while individual provinces may move faster to stricter emissions control. We believe we have the most effective technology for the EGUs in Canada and a strong patent position there.
In China, there exists no specific mandate for mercury capture that demands services such as ours. We are sanguine on the prospects for mercury emissions regulations in China in the coming years, and because we have very broad patent rights in China, this has the potential to become a large business opportunity for us in future years. We estimate that the China market could be many times the size of the U.S. market, and with the Minimata Convention of 2013, we are hopeful that all countries will follow the U.S. in regulating mercury emissions.
In order to achieve significant near and long-term sales success and control overhead, MEEC employs a model of using Manufacturer Sales Representatives (“Reps”) under the leadership of its experienced Vice President of Sales, and a newly hired Regional Manager of Sales. These Reps cover the entire country and are highly incentivized on a commission-only basis to introduce our technology into their customer EGUs. This approach has been very successfully employed by other companies operating in the electric utility industry market.
We buy all the materials needed for our systems and do not manufacture our products or systems. Material components of our proprietary Sorbent Enhancing Additive (“SEA TM ”) Technology are readily available from numerous sources in the market. Our current principal suppliers include Albemarle Corporation, Cabot Corporation, Mississippi Lime and Ferguson Enterprises. When we use PAC as a component of our sorbent material, we buy it in the market from large activated carbon manufacturers. These companies are also some of our major competitors in the mercury control market (see Risk Factors in 10K). These companies employ large sales staff and are well established in the market. However, our technology has consistently performed better in mercury removal in operational tests than PAC or BAC injections alone. We believe our technology is superior to their offerings, and with our experienced team of Reps, we can compete effectively in these markets.
Our success depends, in part, on the success of demonstrations performed with utility customers and the resulting contract awards to meet the MATS requirements in the long-term period and our operational performance with EGUs under contract. With over 800 coal-fired EGUs in the U.S. affected by MATS, MEEC has a near-term business goal to achieve at least 5-10% of this available market.
In the U.S., we have won contracts on 15 EGU’s, and expect that we will conduct numerous demonstrations on prospective customer units in the coming years. Our technology has been running for three years on two boilers in the western U.S. When we are fully operational under MATS compliance mercury capture rates of 90%, we expect that our value proposition will be fully demonstrated. It is important for the utility industry to see MEEC fully demonstrating that its patented approach for mercury control at MATS levels of mercury reduction. We feel that further contract wins in 2015 and beyond will come because of the success that utilities will have in complying with MATS with us, versus our competitors offerings, all of which will be evidenced beginning this year when MATS compliance begins.
Another major opportunity for us is in Canada, where there is a Country-wide mercury reduction agreement among all the provinces that required a 60% reduction in 2012, and which will likely require an 80% reduction beginning in 2018, while individual provinces may move faster to stricter emissions control. We believe we have the most effective technology for the EGUs in Canada and a strong patent position there.
In China, there exists no specific mandate for mercury capture that demands services such as ours. We are sanguine on the prospects for mercury emissions regulations in China in the coming years, and because we have very broad patent rights in China, this has the potential to become a large business opportunity for us in future years. We estimate that the China market could be many times the size of the U.S. market, and with the Minimata Convention of 2013, we are hopeful that all countries will follow the U.S. in regulating mercury emissions.
In order to achieve significant near and long-term sales success and control overhead, MEEC employs a model of using Manufacturer Sales Representatives (“Reps”) under the leadership of its experienced Vice President of Sales, and a newly hired Regional Manager of Sales. These Reps cover the entire country and are highly incentivized on a commission-only basis to introduce our technology into their customer EGUs. This approach has been very successfully employed by other companies operating in the electric utility industry market.
We buy all the materials needed for our systems and do not manufacture our products or systems. Material components of our proprietary Sorbent Enhancing Additive (“SEA TM ”) Technology are readily available from numerous sources in the market. Our current principal suppliers include Albemarle Corporation, Cabot Corporation, Mississippi Lime and Ferguson Enterprises. When we use PAC as a component of our sorbent material, we buy it in the market from large activated carbon manufacturers. These companies are also some of our major competitors in the mercury control market (see Risk Factors in 10K). These companies employ large sales staff and are well established in the market. However, our technology has consistently performed better in mercury removal in operational tests than PAC or BAC injections alone. We believe our technology is superior to their offerings, and with our experienced team of Reps, we can compete effectively in these markets.
