ErP directive: Strict energy efficiency classes can also be an opportunity

For the first time, motors with a power of 0.12 to 0.55kW will also be subject to energy requirements. Machine builders will, therefore, have to think about how the new motors can fit into their designs – a challenge they will not have to take up alone. Lenze is doing everything to make the changeover as easy as possible for the market.

Since 2009, Europe has been taking steps to reduce the energy consumption of electric motors because they represent an important part of the energy bill of the industry. But what makes the new phase, starting in July, so special is that, for the first time, electric motors with small capacities are also targeted (IE2) – and many exceptions in the already existing efficiency class, IE3, will disappear. 

Lenze Product Manager, Florian Breker, says, "About 70 percent of the energy consumption of industrial drive systems consists of the mechanical and electrical components, such as [the] motor and actuator. They are, therefore, an important lever for improving energy efficiency. Today, only one in ten machine builders uses IE3 motors, due to a multitude of exceptions that are still permitted. Fortunately, machine builders still have until 1 July to work with Lenze to achieve the new CE approval for their machines."

The call for more energy efficiency is not a European monopoly, by the way. "Worldwide, there is also a clear trend towards IE2 and IE3," adds Francis Denayer, Sales Manager in BeLux. "We therefore help machine builders who export, to come up with a single design that complies with the requirements throughout the world. These new regulations are also the perfect stepping stone to standardise machines more."

Read the full article in the May issue of DPA

Watch our exclusive video interview with Lenze Product Manager, Florian Breker