The Implementation of New Energy Efficiency Standards, the motor enters the IE3 Era

In May 2020, China announced the latest motor energy efficiency standard “GB18613-2020 Motor Energy Efficiency Limits and Energy Efficiency Ratings”. This standard will be officially implemented on June 1, 2021. Energy efficiency motors below IE3 (international standard) will be forced to stop production. The domestic motor industry fully enter the IE3 high-efficiency era.

The new national standard also stipulates that IE3 efficiency will become China’s lowest limit value for three-phase asynchronous motor energy efficiency (first-level energy efficiency) from the date of implementation of the standard, and three-phase asynchronous motors below the IE3 energy efficiency limit value (such as YE2 series motors) will Reproduction and sales are allowed, indicating that the efficiency of China’s small and medium-sized three-phase asynchronous motors has once again increased by a level. The new national standard also lists IE4 efficiency as a secondary energy-saving evaluation index.

The motors used for fans and water pumps are within the scope of the GB18613 standard, but the efficiency of the fans and water pump units does not cover the limits of the standard; specially designed motors such as brake motors and special frequency conversion motors are also not within the scope of the standard.

Necessity for the introduction of new energy efficiency standards

According to statistics, the total power consumption of motors accounts for about 64% of the total power consumption of the whole society. Among them, the power consumption of motors in the industrial field accounts for about 75% of industrial power consumption. In recent years, with the support of national policies, the energy efficiency of China’s motors has gradually improved, but the overall level still lags behind that of developed countries. From the perspective of the motor itself, the low energy efficiency standard implemented by my country’s motors is IE2, and major developed countries have enforced IE3 motor energy efficiency indicators a few years ago. Therefore, the motor industry urgently needs a new version of the energy efficiency standard. From the current point of view, the time to launch a new version of the energy efficiency standard for electric motors is basically ripe. The main reasons are as follows:

The first is the expansion of the power range in the IEC international standard and the proposal of specific energy efficiency indicators for IE5, which will help my country integrate small and medium-sized motors and small
The integration of energy efficiency standards for power motors has laid a good foundation, allowing my country’s new standards to set IE3 as a low level 3 energy efficiency standard. China’s motor energy efficiency standards are consistent with international standards, which will help Chinese companies to carry out international trade and participate in international competition;

The second is that my country has adopted the IE2 energy efficiency standard as a low energy efficiency standard for motor production for eight years. From the legal point of view, IE2 should be eliminated.
Motor, mandatory implementation of IE3 energy efficiency;

Third, the current major developed countries in the world have set the limit value of low energy efficiency of motors to the IE3 level, which provides a forward-looking standard for the formulation of new standards in my country;

Fourth, the country has implemented a motor energy efficiency improvement plan and a green manufacturing system for many years. IE3 and IE4 motors have been included in the national energy-saving mechanical and electrical products, subsidies for projects that benefit the people, energy-saving product certification, government procurement, large and medium-sized project bidding, etc., and IE5 motors Being included in the energy efficiency star catalog has encouraged many backbone motor companies to conduct R&D, production and promotion of high-efficiency motors, laying a foundation for technology, equipment, technology and market.
GB adopts full text compulsory, therefore deletes the two recommended clauses of motor target energy efficiency limit value and motor energy saving evaluation value.

Changes and Impact because of the New Version of the Standard

(1) Impact on the overall energy efficiency improvement of the motor

Compared with the 2012 version of the standard, GB18613-2020 requires a greater increase in the motor energy efficiency limit value, and the limited power range is also wider. Its release means that from June 1, 2021, the energy efficiency limit value of three-phase asynchronous motors is IE3. Motors that do not reach the energy efficiency limit value will not be produced, sold, or purchased. Therefore, motor companies must start from technology and equipment. , Craftsmanship, materials, and sales.

(2) Impact on the results of national adoption

Since the motor is listed in the energy efficiency label record management, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s energy-saving mechanical and electrical products and the energy efficiency star catalog, and the energy-saving certification catalog, after the implementation of the new standard, the evaluation results of the above-mentioned certifications have been used as national supervision and supervision or as national rewards. , Zheng
The main basis for government procurement, national project bidding, and the implementation of national or local government preferential policies, the existing catalog may all change with the implementation of the new standard.

(3) Impact on enterprise technology, production costs and sales prices

The cost of E3 relative to IE2 increased by about 20%; the cost of IE4 relative to IE3 also increased significantly. Therefore, motor companies must tap the potential of design and technology in order to reduce costs on the premise that their products meet the required energy efficiency indicators. At present, many motor companies have begun to implement intelligent manufacturing, so that motor products can achieve a higher consistency. In addition, existing motor products can be better improved in terms of technology (such as processing accuracy) and equipment.

Compared with the IE2 motor, the design level, processing technology and technology, material cost and sales price of IE3 motor will have a correspondingly greater increase. If IE2 motors cannot be completely eliminated, the promotion of IE3 motors may be hindered. In order to encourage IE3 to be pushed as soon as possible
Guanghe implementation. On the one hand, while the state provides preferential policies and subsidies to companies that produce and use IE4 and IE5 motors, it should also continue to increase incentives for companies that produce and use IE3 motors to cultivate the market so that IE2 motors can be eliminated as soon as possible. . On the other hand, relevant departments should strengthen the supervision and punishment of the production and use of energy-inefficient products by means of national supervision and spot checks on motor energy efficiency labels, special spot checks and energy-saving supervision. In the next step, government departments at all levels and enterprises should work together to actively discuss how to better implement the standards to ensure that the domestic motor industry can fully enter the IE3 era as soon as possible.

National Special Supervision to Help Improve the Energy Efficiency of Motors

On April 19, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on the implementation of industrial energy conservation supervision in 2021. The notice proposes to carry out a special supervision of the implementation of the mandatory unit product energy consumption quota standards, and complete the implementation of steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, and building materials in 2021. And other key industries and enterprises to carry out a comprehensive investigation. The notice also proposes that special supervision on the energy efficiency improvement of key energy-using products and equipment shall be implemented in accordance with relevant national mandatory performance and efficiency standards.

The “Transformer Energy Efficiency Improvement Plan (2021-2023)” implements special supervision of energy efficiency improvement on key energy-consuming products and equipment users such as motors, fans, air compressors, pumps, etc., checks equipment accounts, and, in conjunction with relevant departments, urges enterprises to eliminate up to Low-efficiency products that are less than the limit value of the mandatory performance efficiency standard. If the rectification is not in accordance with the requirements or the rectification is not in place, it shall be dealt with in accordance with laws and regulations.

Motors are used as driving devices for various mechanical equipment such as fans, pumps, compressors, machine tools, conveyor belts, etc. Its power consumption accounts for more than 60% of China’s entire industrial power consumption, of which small three-phase asynchronous motors consume approximately 35 % Is a large power consumer, so the development of China’s high-efficiency motors is one of the important measures to improve energy efficiency, and it is very necessary to meet the needs of my country’s development.

High-efficiency and energy-saving motors are motors that use new motor design, new technology and new materials to reduce the loss of electromagnetic energy, thermal energy and mechanical energy, and improve the output efficiency of the motor. The energy-saving project of the motor system is a key area of ​​the national energy saving and emission reduction work. In energy saving, under the background of emission reduction, mandatory standards and encouraging policies determine that high-efficiency and energy-saving motors will fully replace traditional low-efficiency motors in the future.