In September 2021, the European Commission published new guidance aimed at moving its “energy efficiency first” concept from principle into practice. An immediate possibility is to use variable speed drives (VSDs) to control industrial electric motors. In typical applications this can cut energy consumption by 25%. Furthermore, if the drives feature the latest ultra-low harmonic (ULH) technology they can improve power factor for further gains in energy efficiency. Things gets even better when drives are paired with one of the latest IE5 (ultra-premium efficiency rated) synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motors.
Equipment using electric motors consumes around 45% of the world’s electricity, and accounts for about 70% of industry’s consumption, so the opportunity for positive change is huge. Far too many of the world’s estimated 300 million industrial electric motor-driven systems operate inefficiently. One immediate target should be those running pumps, fans...