New modeling challenges are accompanying the shift in EU product policy toward an increased focus on circular economy aspects. Combined material flow analysis and life cycle assessment can play an important role in assessing the impact of such policies. A flexible model has been developed that is suitable for the ex-ante impact assessment of the material flows and environmental impacts of a range of circular economy product policies, extending an established approach. The model uses a layered approach, in which material and environmental impacts are derived from product flows via a product database that defines physical properties for product variants. Combined with a stock model, the impact of policy interventions on the whole market can be assessed over time and per life cycle stage. We apply this model in a theoretical case study on electric motors, which compares early replacement of inefficient motors and motor repair with a base case.

you can download the excel based tool here.

Growing awareness in governments and industry about the importance of energy-efficiency and its multiple benefits, together with the increasing number of countries implementing minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for motors, has led to great improvements in the energy efficiency of motors. These now reach levels well above IE3, known as super- and ultra-premium efficiency motors (IE4 and IE5, respectively). Induction motors with IE4 efficiency are now widely available on the market.

Technologies such as permanent magnet motors and synchronous reluctance motors make it even possible to exceed the IE4 and IE5 efficiency limits (see Figure 1).
Three-phase squirrel cage induction motors (SCIM) are still the preferred choice for fixed speed applications because of their reliability. Other technologies capable of starting direct-on-line (DOL) have also appeared, such as line-start permanent magnet motors (LSPM) and DOL synchronous reluctance motors (SynRM), but they still show some operational drawbacks limiting their widespread use.

Conversely, in applications where speed variation is necessary, permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) and Synchronous Reluctance Motors (SynRM) are considered viable alternatives to induction motors, rivalling in reliability and excelling in efficiency. Operating at synchronous speed, these motors eliminate rotor losses, which can lead to very high efficiency levels, even exceeding IE5.

This report presents an assessment of the EU-27 electric motor market. It provides information, collected from different sources, on the number of motor sales categorised by technology, power range and efficiency class. The report also includes tables and figures that depict the production, sales and consumption of electric motors in the EU-27, as well as estimates of the motors’ installed base and its electricity consumption. These last two figures remain with a large degree of uncertainty, as recent and credible sources for the underlying assumptions are lacking. In particular, discrepancies between the results of various calculation methods for the electricity consumption remain unsolved. This underscores the importance of having accurate and recent data on the characteristics of the motors’ installed base.

The data presented in this report will serve as a baseline for estimating the savings potentials associated with the policy recommendations elaborated by EU-MORE.

Trends in motor technologies, and why old electric motors should be replaced faster – presented by the EU-MORE project at Coiltech trade show & World Magnetic Conference in Augsburg end of March 2024.

Early 2024, EU-MORE has reached its next milestone with the publication of a comparative review on motor technologies, including an analysis of motor system optimization benefits. MEPSs for motors have led to major improvements in the energy efficiency of motors, which now reach levels known as Super- and Ultra-Premium Efficiency Motors (IE4 and IE5). This review discusses the latest trends in IM, SynRM  and PM, highlights some aspects of direct-on-line starting motors. The review also digs into the energy saving potential of VSDs, further digitalization and other types of system optimization.

The Light Version of the EU-MORE Policy Review includes the report's results, the country review template adopted and a summary table of the analysed policy measures.

Electric motors for industrial applications have the tendency to stay in service longer than their expected lifetime and be replaced only at their end-of-life, limiting the benefits of the higher efficiency of new motors. The EU-MORE project aims to capture the benefits of accelerating the replacement rate of old, inefficient motors through the development of new policies. To accomplish this, a review of past and existing policies targeting industrial electric motors has been conducted for 27 European Member States. The review encompasses 64 policy measures targeting directly and indirectly the early replacement of motors as a measure to improve energy efficiency in industries. Each policy measure is presented with a short description, responsible authority, status, issue date, start date, end date, duration, and reference to the official publication. Additionally, a preliminary estimation of the impact of the analysed measures has been conducted.
The review methodology is based on the contribution of several country experts able to provide a high-level perspective on the national policies under exam.
The results show a strong predominance of financial measures, mostly subsidies and loans (or combinations of them), followed by mandatory standards, fiscal measures and voluntary agreements. The review highlighted a very low implementation of measures targeting trainings and information, particularly relevant for industrial SMEs. On a national level, Germany resulted the country with the highest number of measures involving electric motors, followed by Austria. Very few national policies include systemic approaches to motor systems (i.e. including the overall supply of motive power as well as the demand side for motive power), which generate usually the highest energy savings, as evidenced from case studies.
The report is complemented by an in-depth presentation of measures directly targeting industrial electric motors across the Member States.

The Full Version of this deliverable includes the review reports of the 27 Member States.

The European project EU-MORE (an acronym for EUropean MOtor REnovation initiative) aims at seizing the benefits deriving from the acceleration of the replacement rate of old inefficient motors through the development of new policies.

Download our first EU-MORE infographic

This Policy Brief gives an overview of the content of the EMSA report on
Classification of digitalisation technologies for electric motor driven systems.

The report identifies 13 digital technologies with the potential to influence energy
consumption in electric motor driven systems and contains definitions, descriptions and examples in this area.

New paper by
Anibal T. de Almeida , Fernando J. T. E. Ferreira and João Fong
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, ISR-University of Coimbra, Portugal

As electric motors systems represent such a large share of the overall electricity consumption (over 50%), large savings potential could be made available by the use of energy-efficient motor systems both in new installations and by accelerating the replacement of old inefficient motors. Since electric motors are very reliable, their lifetime is long (according to recent studies it may exceed 20 years) which translates into a very inefficient existing stock despite worldwide policy efforts. This paper analyzes the current efficiency of the installed stock and the causes for its low efficiency, possible policy options to increase its the efficiency, the role of new technologies and improvements possible by targeting the entire motor system at the time of motor replacement. The paper presents an innovative analysis of the estimated impact of increasing the uptake of high-efficiency motors and motor systems; effective policies could translate into 100 TWh/year in the European Union if additional measures, such as addressing oversizing, proper controls (VSDs) and digitisation, are also implemented

Improving energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest and cleanest way to get reliable power to more people. Well over half of the world's electricity is consumed
by just four products: electric motor systems, lighting, room air conditioners, and residential refrigerators.

Electric motors are of utmost importance in industrial as well as agriculture sector. These motors found their application as constant speed drives with very low rating as well as variable speed drives with very high rating. This paper describes the various factors affecting the efficiency of motor and method to increase it on the basis of comparison with various standards. An incremental difference in the efficiency is also discussed.