Dora Partners’ Christean Kapp Talks Asia-Pacific Growth & Low-Carbon Energy Solutions

Those that pay attention to trends in the turbomachinery industry and global power market will notice two notable shifts: the growth of Asia-Pacific manufacturing and compression, as well as the lack of financial/governmental support for energy transition technologies in the United States. These market factors are increasingly altering global compressor buildout and decline.

Christean Kapp, Rotating Equipment Expert at Dora Partners & Co., provided insightful context on these compressor-based trends during his sit-down interview with Turbomachinery International.

The relocation of North American manufacturing is the causal factor for rapidly increasing industrial compression in the Asia-Pacific region, as more gas and air compressors are needed to support growth. In the United States, energy transition technologies are failing to drive compressor growth as the current administration placed higher emphasis on gas-fired power generation and the overall gas value chain.

TURBO: How did the Asia-Pacific region grow to be the largest geographical market segment for industrial compression? Over the next 10 years, are there other regions expected to match/surpass the Asia Pacific?

Kapp: We’ve been moving a lot of manufacturing from North America into China, South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. The Europeans have done this to a slightly lesser degree, so there’s just a general industrial development that’s been happening very rapidly. To support the rapid development, you need more energy and immediately more gas compressors and air compressors for the factories.

This is a historic development as when you go back into history, before colonialism, the majority of economic activity on this planet occurred in East Asia and South Asia—we’re seeing a bit of a return to historic norms. As to what’s coming next, I’d say that India and South Asia still lag behind the trend in East Asia and Southeast Asia, so I’d like to see them catch up.

TURBO: Despite hydrogen, ammonia, carbon capture, renewable natural gas, and energy storage not contributing significantly to market growth, how will these industries manage to spur growth within the next 5 – 10 years?

Kapp: It’ll be very interesting to see how this all plays out. We have multiple applications and technologies trying to compete for the prime spot and, quite frankly, these technologies would not be competitive at the moment without financial support from investors, government, or having legal initiatives to incentivize the business.

It’s a bit early to say what’ll work best, but it all depends on how government supports these trends. Europe is a little bit ahead and I think the Trump Administration shows very little enthusiasm for these applications.

For more information on the 2025 Compressor Market Report, please visit https://www.dora-partners.com/dora-reports.php.