Forthcoming motor efficiency upgrades
New legislation mandating minimum efficiency levels will have major implications for original equipment manufacturers, say Baldor
A SEMINAL piece of legislation mandating minimum electric motor efficiency levels is scheduled to come into force across the EU in June 2011. This will have enormous implications for machinery OEMs, with potentially serious consequences to sales and market share if attention is not paid immediately, according to motor manufacturers Baldor.
The company says the situation is made even more problematic by the US’s EISA minimum-efficiency regulations, which came into force in December 2010.
Baldor believe that as much as a third of the EU’s OEMs are still either wholly or partially unaware that new general-purpose AC motors installed from June must meet a minimum efficiency of IE2 – the equivalent to the previous CEMEP ‘EFF1’ standard.
Most OEMs currently use lower-efficiency EFF3- or EFF2-grade AC motors. Transitioning equipment designs with higher efficiency motors can involve physical and mechanical interface changes, changes to rotational speeds, and changes to thermal issues and starting behaviour. Baldor are warning that these issues can have a big impact for equipment OEMs, who may need weeks or months to make the upgrades.
‘If European OEMs do not start considering the impact of motor efficiency regulations immediately, there could be negative implications for their sales and market share,’ said Robin Cowley, industrial marketing manager for Baldor in the EU. ‘And when OEMs think about the upgrade to IE2 efficiency levels, we are also suggesting that they consider their strategy for the IE3 efficiency level that’s coming down the track, because if they don’t, their competitors might – and could steal a march.’
With most end-users of automation becoming seriously worried about their energy costs, and many also currently putting strong environmental care plans into place, Mr Cowley believes that OEMs who start to offer the best efficiency levels available – IE3 – could see their market share grow at the expense of those who merely offer the minimum required.
This situation is complicated by the US’s recent Energy Independence Security Act (EISA), which came into force in December 2010. This mandates a minimum efficiency level of ‘NEMA Premium’ for motors imported into the US.
NEMA Premium is equivalent to IE3, which is not due to come into force in the EU until 2015. Mr Cowley expects that some US OEMs could adopt NEMA Premium as their standard offering for international sales as well. This would mean that much imported equipment could offer end-users a significantly faster payback in terms of reduced energy consumption than equipment sourced from the EU.
‘For some simple items of equipment, such as pumps or fans, the motor is a significant proportion of the bill of materials and US competitors might offer a lower-spec IE2 alternative in the EU,’ added Mr Cowley. ‘However, where a motor is only a small proportion of some larger equipment – eg on a conveyor system – US competitors have the opportunity to offer premium efficiency as standard. This potentially puts them in a position to gain market share here in Europe.’
A SEMINAL piece of legislation mandating minimum electric motor efficiency levels is scheduled to come into force across the EU in June 2011. This will have enormous implications for machinery OEMs, with potentially serious consequences to sales and market share if attention is not paid immediately, according to motor manufacturers Baldor.
The company says the situation is made even more problematic by the US’s EISA minimum-efficiency regulations, which came into force in December 2010.
Baldor believe that as much as a third of the EU’s OEMs are still either wholly or partially unaware that new general-purpose AC motors installed from June must meet a minimum efficiency of IE2 – the equivalent to the previous CEMEP ‘EFF1’ standard.
Most OEMs currently use lower-efficiency EFF3- or EFF2-grade AC motors. Transitioning equipment designs with higher efficiency motors can involve physical and mechanical interface changes, changes to rotational speeds, and changes to thermal issues and starting behaviour. Baldor are warning that these issues can have a big impact for equipment OEMs, who may need weeks or months to make the upgrades.
‘If European OEMs do not start considering the impact of motor efficiency regulations immediately, there could be negative implications for their sales and market share,’ said Robin Cowley, industrial marketing manager for Baldor in the EU. ‘And when OEMs think about the upgrade to IE2 efficiency levels, we are also suggesting that they consider their strategy for the IE3 efficiency level that’s coming down the track, because if they don’t, their competitors might – and could steal a march.’
With most end-users of automation becoming seriously worried about their energy costs, and many also currently putting strong environmental care plans into place, Mr Cowley believes that OEMs who start to offer the best efficiency levels available – IE3 – could see their market share grow at the expense of those who merely offer the minimum required.
This situation is complicated by the US’s recent Energy Independence Security Act (EISA), which came into force in December 2010. This mandates a minimum efficiency level of ‘NEMA Premium’ for motors imported into the US.
NEMA Premium is equivalent to IE3, which is not due to come into force in the EU until 2015. Mr Cowley expects that some US OEMs could adopt NEMA Premium as their standard offering for international sales as well. This would mean that much imported equipment could offer end-users a significantly faster payback in terms of reduced energy consumption than equipment sourced from the EU.
‘For some simple items of equipment, such as pumps or fans, the motor is a significant proportion of the bill of materials and US competitors might offer a lower-spec IE2 alternative in the EU,’ added Mr Cowley. ‘However, where a motor is only a small proportion of some larger equipment – eg on a conveyor system – US competitors have the opportunity to offer premium efficiency as standard. This potentially puts them in a position to gain market share here in Europe.’
