Industrial Automation Magazine India

ABB IEC LV Motors Driving Energy Efficiency

Published on : Wednesday 10-07-2024

The journey towards energy efficiency and sustainability begins with the low hanging fruit – the electric motor!

The history of the electric motor dates back to the early years of the 19th century when efforts began to translate Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction into practice with the involvement of various persons across continents. By the end of the century, various types of motors were invented, designed and in production, but the refinement of technologies that make the motors continues to the day, most importantly, on the energy efficiency front, but more of that, later. From the mixers and washing machines in our homes to the countless water pumps and sophisticated rolling mills that produce sheets of steel that help build most of our infrastructure, electric motors are the prime movers of progress we have made during the last two centuries.

Well, these were the thoughts that came to mind listening to a presentation on energy efficient motors at ABB’s Motor Factory at Peenya – one of Bengaluru’s prominent industrial suburbs, reportedly one of the largest industrial areas of South East Asia. Globally, there are four main business focus areas of ABB – Electrification, Motion, Process Automation and Robotics & Discrete Automation – and under them, a further 18 business divisions. Sanjeev Arora, President – Motion Business, ABB India, gave a brief overview of the 74 year old history of the Company’s Motion Division in India. It started with a plant at Faridabad that was started in 1951 by the Government of India as a training centre for rehabilitation of displaced persons and later acquired by Hindustan Electric Company for manufacturing motors. This in turn was acquired by Brown Boveri, a Swiss company and renamed Hindustan Brown Boveri in 1962. With the merger of Asea and Brown Boveri the plant became Asea Brown Boveri in 1989, and then ABB in 2003, which is in effect part of the 140-year old history of the global ABB Group. The Bengaluru motor plant was added in 2006.

Electric motors used in industry and buildings consume 45% of the world’s electricity. This percentage rises up to 70% in the case of industry, which is huge. “We

stand for productivity and manufacture products with a low carbon footprint. There is a lot of talk about net zero and our endeavour is to ensure India stands good on the commitments made during COP 28. In my interaction with the industry forums, government policy making bodies, and with end users, I always point out to motors as the low hanging fruit, because we use motors to run everything that is in motion. Of the 60% of electricity consumed by motors in industry, if we are able to consume less – and that’s what energy efficient motors do – that directly translates into savings. So my message to end users is before you buy motors – and this is a long term investment as these last for 14-15 years on an average – first test the motors for energy consumption in actual running conditions and only buy the one that gives the best results,” says Sanjeev Arora.

If energy efficient motors save electricity, pairing them with appropriate variable frequency drives improves it further. The fact is, the various equipment driven by motors – fans, compressors, among others – does not always need to operate at the same speed, which can be varied according to load conditions. These drives regulate the electrical supply to the motor, allowing it to operate at various speeds and adapt to the specific requirements of an application. Consider this – if all the 300 million plus industrial electric motor driven systems currently in operation worldwide were replaced and optimised with high efficiency equipment, global electricity consumption could be reduced by up to 10%!

Energy efficiency standards

It is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) that defines the standard for efficiency of electric motors for the world except in North America where NEMA standards prevail. There are five categories: IE1 – Standard Efficiency; IE2 – High Efficiency; IE3 – Premium Efficiency; IE4 – Super Premium; and IE5 – Ultra Premium Efficiency, the best in class. The Government of India in 2018 mandated IE2 as the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for low-voltage motors (Europe has IE3 as the minimum). While this regulatory change has led to increased adoption of higher efficiency motors, such as IE3 and IE4, by Indian industries including MSMEs, the fact is an overwhelming percentage of motors in Indian industry, being legacy installations, are low efficiency motors.

As for the energy saving potential, consider the facts: IE3 motors have ~20% lower losses than IE2, and IE4 motors have ~20% lower losses than IE3. However, IE3 and IE4 motors make up only ~18% of total motor production. Transitioning to higher-efficiency motors is crucial, as replacing IE2 with IE3 as MEPS, savings from one year of production could save over 1 TWh annually, while replacing IE2 with IE4 could save up to 2.1 TWh. The widespread adoption of higher efficiency motors is crucial for India to achieve its net-zero goals as over 70% of electricity consumed by industries is from motor-driven systems. In fact Arora believes that India should skip IE3 and directly go for the adoption of IE4 motors as the country is now focused on ramping up manufacturing and energy efficiency is at the core of a net-zero ecosystem with strong focus on renewables.

Amidst this, the silver lining is ABB India has achieved a significant milestone in energy conservation through its IEC LV motors business. The installed base over the last 5 years has contributed to annual energy savings of over 500 gigawatt hours (GWh) for Indian industries which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of Sikkim. With the rising awareness of energy efficiency in India, tier 2, 3 and 4 cities such as Ahmedabad, Indore, Raipur, Jamshedpur and others, are increasingly adopting high-efficiency motors across industries. In 2023, ABB India’s IEC LV motors witnessed notable progress in the adoption of energy-efficient motors, with ~50% of orders being attributed to the supply of higher efficiency IE3 and IE4 motors. The focus on energy-efficient motors is further demonstrated by the impressive growth in the quantity of IE4 motor sales which witnessed over 100% year-on-year increase.

"This shift towards advanced motor technologies highlights the growing preference for sustainable solutions in the Indian market. ABB India's IEC LV Motors are not just driving industrial processes, but also revolutionising energy savings across Indian industries. We are committed to providing innovative motion solutions that help industries achieve their sustainability goals. The significant energy savings realized through our high-efficiency motors are a testament to the value we bring to our customers and fostering environmental sustainability,” says Arora.

The ABB LV motors range

The Faridabad plant of ABB manufactures IEC LV motors with output power up to 200kW and motors for explosive protection up to 55kW. The facility is at the forefront of promoting sustainable practices and is adopting renewable energy, also improving energy efficiency across the plant power. Recently it has undergone capacity expansion for mid-range LV motors and opened a Customer Centre for Drives responding to customer demands.

The Bengaluru plant manufactures IEC LV motors with output power ranging from 37kW up to 1000kW or 1 MegaWatt, the frame sizes ranging from 280 to 450. This facility operates on 100% renewable electricity in line with ABB’s RE100 commitment and is CII-certified single-use plastics free. The Bengaluru plant also caters to the critical need of customers for motors for specialised applications and bigger range LV motors. It has also reduced water consumption by 6% with various conservation measures and become a water positive unit by following rainwater harvesting and related methods.

In fact sustainability is at the core of ABB’s motor business operations in India, exemplified through several impactful initiatives. ABB India’s motor factories in Bengaluru and Faridabad are green certified by IGBC under green factory building rating system, ensuring all operations meet stringent environmental standards. The business has achieved a notable 31% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in its operation as compared to its 2019 baseline.

Together, the ABB range of IEC LV motors, over 50% of which are IE3 and IE4  rated, cater to a diverse range of industrial applications spanning Energy Efficient Safe Area Motors, Motors for Hazardous area industries and Motors for Tunnel Ventilation. An example of the latter is the recent new benchmark set in tunnel ventilation technology by ABB India in collaboration with Witt India – a premier manufacturer specialising in tunnel ventilation systems. Witt has successfully deployed ABB's cutting-edge smoke extraction motors for tunnel safety and reliability across India's critical infrastructure development projects. This collaboration aims to contribute towards infrastructure development ensuring safer and more efficient journeys for commuters through India's road tunnels. “The integration of ABB's smoke extraction motors and jet fans in these tunnels aim to augment safety standards as they provide effective smoke management by rapidly extracting smoke during fire incidents, ensuring clear visibility and safe evacuation routes," says Arora.

The manufacturing process

The shop floor at the Peenya plant in the appropriately named ‘Gati’ building – Gati means Motion – is neatly organised in different sections. The Motion division at Peenya has a large supplier base with over 70% suppliers based around Bengaluru and 95% indigenisation. Stators, rotors, casings, bearings and other peripherals are received and undergo acceptance checks before being subjected to various tests like winding resistance tests, insulation tests, core loss tests, etc. There is a machine shop with CNC lathes for precision machining of rotors followed by measurements by CMMs and other processes like dynamic balancing, etc. The shop floor is neatly organised into different sections, with walkways clearly demarcated as also the prescribed paths leading to safe exit during if a situation arises. No one is permitted to enter the shop floor without appropriate PPE – helmets or hard hats, prescribed safety shoes, safety goggles, safety gloves, etc. For those working in certain sections, anti-static clothing is mandatory. The workforce deployed in different bays – assembly, testing, paint shop, load tests, final acceptance checks, etc., had a healthy mix of both sexes. In fact ABB India has an exemplary record of women in leadership roles across functions such as Product & Project Management, Finance, SCM, Global Customer Support and HR. 50% diversity ratio and an inclusive leadership style not only strengthens internal cohesion but also enhances overall organisational performance.

Going forward

Leveraging its local capabilities – the Company has a global R&D facility based in India and an innovation Centre at Whitefield, Bengaluru – acquired expertise, and a highly skilled workforce, ABB India is firmly focussed on the Make-in-India approach. This ensures reliable and efficient products tailored to Indian customers' needs, with quicker delivery time. It is also incorporating automation and digital application in manufacturing and testing facilities for Indian industry. With the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is further room for taking energy management to the next level, for smarter and more adaptive industrial processes, leading on the digital transformation front.

(Industrial Automation was invited by ABB India to visit the LV Motor Plant at Peenya, Bengaluru) 

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