en.Wedoany.com Reported - A recent report released by ABB highlights that the efficiency potential of large electric motors and generators has long been underestimated, with minor specification differences significantly impacting the overall energy consumption and carbon emissions of heavy industry. The report is based on an analysis of over 1,000 large motors and generators delivered from ABB's Västerås factory between 2015 and 2025.
David Bjerhad, Global Business Line Manager at ABB, stated that industry has spent decades optimizing factory internal processes, yet large motors and generators are rarely included in discussions, despite operating continuously for 25 years or more and converting more energy than almost any other equipment on site. Data shows that the gap between standard machines and Top Industrial Efficiency (TIE) optimized machines is not a technical issue but a specification selection issue. This gap can be narrowed most quickly when engineers responsible for motor selection and chief financial officers or chief sustainability officers responsible for energy performance align on the metric of total cost of ownership.
Data from the European Commission indicates that motors and drive systems account for approximately 50% of global electricity consumption. ABB estimates that carbon dioxide emissions during the operational phase of large motors account for 99% of their entire lifecycle emissions. In the current trend of industrial electrification, simply switching to electricity does not necessarily reduce energy use; system-level performance depends on the interaction between motors, drive equipment, control devices, and operating modes. ABB states that producing TIE-class equipment is a practical path to achieving higher efficiency. Mateusz Zając, ABB's Head of Sustainability for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), noted: "Without the equipment that powers it, the energy transition cannot be achieved."
The report points out that large motors with a rated power exceeding 375kW currently account for approximately 10.4% of global electricity consumption, with demand expected to double by 2040. ABB reports that TIE improvements can increase synchronous motor efficiency from about 98.5% to 98.8%, while induction motor systems can achieve gains of 1 to 1.5 percentage points. A 56MW TIE-optimized synchronous motor delivered to a steel plant in India in 2025 achieved a verified efficiency of 99.13%, setting a world record, and is expected to save $5.9 million in electricity costs and avoid 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its lifecycle.
ABB estimates that if all machines delivered from the Västerås factory over the past decade had been specified to TIE standards, global industry could have saved 11.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, nearly $1 billion based on U.S. energy prices, and avoided 5.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions—equivalent to taking approximately 1.3 million cars off the road for a year. Looking ahead, if the global installed base of large motors achieves a 0.2% efficiency improvement, it could reduce electricity demand by 4 to 6 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually. Over a 25-year lifecycle, this equates to saving 100 to 150 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, cumulatively reducing costs by $9.5 billion to $12 billion, and avoiding 60 million to 75 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com
