TO I M P R O V E E N E R G Y E F F I C I E N C Y—

W H I T E PA P E R

Data-driven decision making
to improve energy efficiency

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D ATA - D R I V E N D E C I S I O N M A K I N G—Digital solutions for more energy efficientelectrical rotating equipment
In industries that rely on motors and drives, energy consumption is a big part of theiroperating costs, with about 70% of the energy being consumed by electric motors.1
Since a significant number of these motor systems are old and inefficient, they
provide a good starting point for companies that want to improve their energy
efficiency and reduce energy costs.

Globally, there are about 300 million motor-driven
systems currently in use and this number is likely toincrease. Therefore, improving motor system efficiency
is of growing importance. Indeed, it is estimated that if
all the motor systems currently in use were replaced withhigher-efficiency equipment, global energy consumption
could be reduced by up to 10%. 2
One way to improve efficiency is to modernize older andless energy efficient equipment with newer, more efficientsolutions. However, modernization is only one step in the
improvement process. Digital solutions offer new
capabilities that enable energy efficiency to be continuously
optimized. To take advantage of these digital solutions, theequipment and processes must be connected to the Internetof Things (IoT). This enables real energy use data to begathered, monitored, and analyzed. Using the insights
gained, service experts – either from the customer or theirservice partner – can then identify inefficiencies andopportunities and make recommendations for continuous
improvement.

This white paper discusses some of the available digitalsolutions and some of the possibilities they offer for gaining
constant energy efficiency, as well as enabling new
outcome-based business models.
Studying industry trends towards energy efficiency
To evaluate future market needs and industry attitudes
towards energy efficiency, ABB has conducted a study inpartnership with the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. 3
The study covers companies in different industry segments
and in different geographical areas. While the results so
far are preliminary, some findings seem quite clear.
For example, the majority of participants believe thatsustainability is gaining importance and is becoming
a crucial topic for business. And 80% stated thatsustainability is an important factor for their customers’
customers. In addition, the majority of people interviewed
agreed that transformation to more efficient systems isneeded and they identified some use cases that had themost chance of success. These included product upgrades,
monitoring and energy management systems. 3

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However, the participants also highlighted a gap between
willingness to act and actual action. Part of the reason forthis was due to a focus on return on investment rather thanon longer-term, life-cycle benefits. Another reason forinaction is that finding the right decision makers can bedifficult, especially when decisions have to take bothsustainability and business goals into account. Furthermore,some respondents noted that energy efficiency investment
decisions were often based on intuition, rather than hard
data. In practice, digital connectivity is a prerequisite forcontinuously gathering this kind of energy data fromelectrical rotating equipment like powertrains. The results
so far indicate that people agree that monitoring andtracking energy efficiency is important to their operations,while modernizing equipment is a viable option forcompanies.

A first step: modernize to improve efficiency
Older motors are a typical source of inefficiency in industrial
applications. By modernizing some of their motor systems,
most companies and utilities could save energy and money,
helping them to meet both their sustainability objectives
and their business goals. In general, upgrading a motor to
the next IE class, for example from IE3 to IE4, will reduce
motor losses by 20%, and adding a variable speed drive to—Read the Interim Report:
Sustainable operations throughenergy efficiency here.

an existing motor of a pump, fan or compressor, can reduce
power consumption by 25%.4 Given that in some markets
over 60% of industrial motors are more than 10 years old,modernizing equipment offers a lot of scope to improveenergy efficiency. 5 The improvements in energy efficiency
will, of course, depend on the processes involved and theage of the equipment in use – the older the equipment, thegreater the potential for energy savings.

Motors: Efficiency and age
IE5 - Ultra Premium
Efficiency

100
95

IE4 - Super Premium
Efficiency 50 hz

90

Efficiency (%)

85

IE3 - Premium Efficiency
50 hz

80
75

IE2 - High Efficiency
50 hz

70
65

IE1 - Standard Efficiency
50 hz

60
55
50
45
0.1

1

10

100

Output power (kW) log scale (Source: IEC 60034-30-1,2014)—

Older motors are less efficient than newer motors.6

1000

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D ATA - D R I V E N D E C I S I O N M A K I N G—Continuous energy efficiency
driven by data
Enabling better decision making based on data
Companies in many industries do regularly modernize their
existing equipment or components at the end of their life
with solutions optimized for lower energy consumption.
However, data about actual energy use and equipment
performance is one of the most important requirements
for continuously deciding how to improve energy efficiency.
You need data to know how efficiently your equipment isrunning and you need data to see what changes you could
make to actually improve efficiency. Today, with the rapidly
accelerating capabilities of digital technology, it’s easierthan ever to gather data from all your equipment and all yourprocesses. However, accumulating raw data is not enough.
You need the ability to identify the relevant data and thenprocess it, and you also have to have the expertise to analyze
and interpret the results.
In short, you need to look at the right things and ask theright questions before you can get useful, actionableanswers. That is when you can find effective ways toimprove energy efficiency.
Data gathering in practice
Digitally enabled services are provided remotely via secure
IoT connections. This way customers can benefit fromadvanced computer processing without having to build or
support data storage or computing facilities on their own site.
Specially developed solutions, such as ABB Ability™ Condition
Monitoring, are needed to gather data from connected
devices. The software connects to the powertrain either
through sensors that can be added to motors, generators,
bearings and pumps or via sensing functions that are an
integral part of the equipment, as with ABB drives.
Once the software is enabled then it can be used to measure
and track different parameters like usage patterns, cooling,stress levels, and power consumption. The data gathered canthen be processed and analyzed and is available througha dedicated platform.
Use data to see the bigger picture
Data gathering is increasingly being applied to wholeprocesses and process areas, rather than only individual
pieces of equipment. For example, it’s possible to assess thecondition and maintenance needs of an entire powertrain,rather than just the individual motors and drives. With thisapproach, the same data from the motors and drives isgathered, but it is also assessed and analyzed in the context
of the whole system.

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ABB AbilityTM Condition Monitoringfor powertrains is a solution thatgathers data from drives, motors,
pumps and other electricalcomponents. It combines connectivity
and data analytics, and it enables
expertise driven assessments that can
improve the performance, reliability
and efficiency of each component inyour powertrain, as well as thepowertrain as a whole.

Understanding data requires expertise
To make the most of the data you gather, you also needexpertise. If a company does not have the required
expertise in-house, then they will need to rely on an expert
service provider to help them.
The type of expertise required includes an understandingof the technology involved, for example, of brandagnostic motors, generators, or drives. It also includes
an understanding of the type of data the technology canprovide, as well as expertise in processing, analyzing,and interpreting the data. And of course, companies andtheir service partners need to understand their processes
and business area, as well as being focused on theobjective in sight.

For example, if a service partner provides remote conditionmonitoring services for a water treatment plant, they willneed an understanding of motors, drives, pumps andvalves, knowledge of the water treatment process, andmaintenance expertise, as well as expertise in data
gathering, processing and analysis. The data by itself is
not enough to ensure that the plant equipment stays ingood working condition.
With this knowledge in place, service partners like ABB will
already know the common issues to pay attention to andwhich aspects usually have potential for improvement.

Moving towards partnerships
Digitally driven solutions requirecompanies to safely share datawith their service providers.
This is leading to a re-evaluationof the relationships between
service providers, customers,
and other businesses. In the
future these will be increasingly
based on collaborative
partnerships in which equipment
manufacturers and service
partners remove risk and use
a high level of connectivity todeliver results.

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D ATA - D R I V E N D E C I S I O N M A K I N G—
Using data and expertiseto improve performance
Digitally enabled solutions can be used to provide different types of service,including condition-based maintenance and predictive maintenance.

Continuous monitoring and condition-based maintenanceIn condition-based maintenance, data is continuously
gathered from equipment and processes to monitor theircondition. The data is transmitted securely to the cloud
where equipment manufacturers and service partners areauthorized to access, process and analyze the data. Using
their expertise, the service partner will assess the conditionof the equipment, identify maintenance needs andrecommend maintenance actions to their customer. This
improves equipment reliability and performance andenables better maintenance scheduling, while preventing
unnecessary maintenance work and reducing the need for
manual inspections. Because the system monitors theequipment continuously, it can also provide alerts andalarms automatically if an unexpected deviation occurs.

Predictive maintenancePredictive maintenance uses data to identify potential
issues before they become a problem, which helps ensure
process stability and the maximum available uptime. Withpredictive maintenance, service experts analyze both realtime and long-term aggregated data. They bring together
equipment data like the hours of operation, and processdata like parameter settings, and combine it with historical
data and trends to predict upcoming maintenance needs.
With this longer-term overview, optimum maintenanceintervals can be established, deviations in performance canbe pinpointed and problems can be prevented. In addition,bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement can also
be identified.

Digitally enabled services like
ABB AbilityTM Condition Monitoring help
companies to monitor the condition of
their powertrain components.

Alarmmanagement

Offlinedata collection

Asset
health status

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TO I M P R O V E E N E R G Y E F F I C I E N C Y

CUSTOMER CASE

Mokrá improves efficiency withdigital monitoring solutions
A cement factory operated by Mokrá in the Czech
Republic had difficulties tracking down the source ofrepeated unplanned outages and they turned to ABB
for help. Using ABB Ability™ Condition Monitoring fordrives, ABB Motion Services monitored the conditionof their variable speed drives continuously. Using theinsights gathered from this data, ABB’s experts wereable to identify the cause of the failures and recommend
areas to focus on. This enabled Mokrá to change fromschedule-based maintenance to focusing theirmaintenance actions on the right equipment at theright time. As a result, by using preventive maintenancesolutions, they identified potential failures in advance,
preventing unplanned shutdowns, and in just 3 months
Mokrá obtained over $210k cost savings and improved
the performance and efficiency of the ID fans (smokefans) without needing to make unplanned investments.

CUSTOMER CASE

Denka extends motor lifetimeand reduces maintenance costs
ABB provided condition monitoring solutions for motors
and pumps to Japanese company, Denka, at their chemicalplant in Singapore. The plant is one of the world’s largest
styrenic resin production facilities and it uses hundredsof motors to operate pumps, compressors, blowers andpelletizers. Under the service agreement, ABB provides
expertise and manages equipment failure risk, and conducts
or advises on preventive maintenance and repairs using
a reliability index and urgency level. For example, ABB
continuously monitors key parameters of process-critical
motors, pumps and bearings. Using insights from thisdata, ABB was quickly able to identify deviations in several
processes, leading to corrective action well-ahead ofpotential failures. Over the longer term, the condition
monitoring service reduced electric motor failures by 80%
over 2 years.7

Source: Denka—
With ABB’s condition monitoring
service, Denka reduced electric motor
failures by 80% over 2 years.7

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D ATA - D R I V E N D E C I S I O N M A K I N G—
Using data and expertiseto continuously optimize energy efficiency
The majority of digitally enabled solutions currently focus on ensuring process
and equipment reliability and performance. However, they can also be adapted tocontinuously optimize energy efficiency. As with condition-based maintenanceservices, energy efficiency services are also provided remotely.

It should also be noted that improving the reliability andperformance of equipment by itself can already measurably
improve energy efficiency. A customer in Australia hasreported that ABB condition monitoring for motors anddrives has been demonstrated to increase their energy
efficiency by around 10% by creating better loading profiles
based on energy consumption patterns and rationalizing
the installed base of motors and drives.8
In services that focus on energy efficiency, data about
energy use is continuously gathered from connected motors
and drives, and other electrical components. Service experts
can look deeper into the data to pinpoint critical areas for
improvement and to calculate potential energy savings.
Using this information, they can then advise on
the different options available and recommend the mosteffective course of action to improve energy efficiency.
For example, motor systems and drives, or adding variable
speed drives. And, once any changes are made, continuous
monitoring enables them to follow up and verify theefficiency gains, and to ensure that all motor systems
continue to run as efficiently as possible in the long term.

—With outcome-based businessmodels, companies can focus onreaching their goals rather thanovercoming the hurdles on the way.

New service models for guaranteed outcomes
Digitally enabled solutions can also be used to increasetransparency and to achieve broader goals, rather thanjust focusing on individual issues. For example, leading
companies like ABB offer outcome-based business models
that combine big data with continuous-monitoring andexpertise, whether provided on site or remotely.
With traditional services, equipment manufacturers andservice partners focus on responding to needs and finding
solutions. In contrast, with outcome-based businessmodels, the focus is shifted to avoiding risk – this becomes
the service partner’s responsibility – and the customer andtheir service partner work together to define and achieve
critical outcomes over time. For example, a customer might
pay their service provider to ensure a guaranteed level ofproduction availability or continuous energy efficiency. The
service provider will then take responsibility for monitoring
the customer’s equipment remotely and take proactive
maintenance actions to ensure the agreed outcome.
Similarly, in the future, a customer might pay their service
provider to improve their energy efficiency and optimize
their energy use.
Because outcome-based services rely on remote access,digital connectivity is essential – it provides theinfrastructure that makes it possible to deliver continuous
results and the desired outcomes. This also means that
customers will need to change their mindset and be more
willing to share data with their service partners. However,service partners have the best knowhow about theequipment they supply, so it makes sense to let them takeresponsibility for optimizing its performance throughout
its life cycle.

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CUSTOMER CASE

SCA’s Munksund paper mill produces 400,000 tonnes of
packaging annually. The papermaking process uses a lotof energy, and most of it is consumed by their installedbase of more than 2,400 electric motors. Together with
ABB, SCA Munksund implemented digital solutions toimprove their energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
This included data from monitoring the condition of
their assets. When combined with expert data analysis,
this lets them follow real-time indicators like usage
patterns and power consumption, as well as long-term
trends in performance. The end result is that they will beable to save energy and costs and ensure as energy
efficient operation as possible.

CUSTOMER CASE

ABB has signed a 10-year service contract with
Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewableenergy. This turnkey contract includes the design,
manufacture, and installation of two high-inertia
synchronous condenser systems for the Lister Drive
Greener Grid project in the UK.
As part of their service, ABB will ensure around-theclock availability for the condenser system. With thisoutcome-based service, Statkraft will get a guaranteedlevel of uptime, together with maintenance from ABB.
ABB will continuously monitor the equipment and takeproactive maintenance actions to ensure thatbreakdowns never occur.

Source: Statkraft

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D ATA - D R I V E N D E C I S I O N M A K I N G—
Conclusion
Worldwide energy consumption is projected to grow byalmost 50% by 2050. 9 As a result, global and local
regulations are constantly being tightened to drive
companies towards more energy efficient operations.
As discussed in this white paper, digital solutions andservices that enable continuous energy efficiency are
already available. These use continuous monitoring togather data from equipment and processes to ensure thatthey run as efficiently as possible, to support decision
making and to identify areas for improvement. Continuous
monitoring is also essential to more advanced digital
services that focus on delivering outcomes based on
specific KPIs. With outcome-based business models,companies can improve and develop their operations andwork towards long-term goals, and avoid risks, rather thansimply maintaining performance as it currently is.
ABB is leading the way in digital solutions for energy
efficiency for motors, generators and drives, and we offer
digitally enabled services that are accessible to almost any
business. This enables them to adopt these powerful newtechnologies in small steps, as they digitalize theirbusiness. In the future, digital, outcome-based businessmodels are expected to be a normal part of business life,
and at ABB, we have the expertise and the technology tomake the transformation to a digital and energy efficient
future easier than ever before.

(1) Fong, J.; F. Ferreira; A.M. Silva; and A.T. De Almeida, “IEC61800-9 System Standards as a Tool to Boost the Efficiency of		 Electric Motor Driven Systems Worldwide,” Inventions, 2020, 5, 20,
		https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/5/2/20/htm(2)		 Waide, P. and C.U. Brunner, “Energy-Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven Systems,”
		 International Energy Agency working paper, Paris, 2011 page 13, 17, 118.
(3)

ABB Smart Lab and University of St. Gallen, Sustainable operations through energy efficiency, Interim Report, 2021

(4) For an example of the calculations involved, see “Program Insights: Variable frequency drives,” Consortium for Energy Efficiency, 2019,		 https://www.cee1. org/content/variable-frequency-drives.
(5) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. industrial and commercial motor system market assessment report,
		 Volume 1: characteristics of the installed base, January 2021, Page 67, permalink: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/42f631k3(6)		 Electric Motor Systems: targeting and implementing efficiency improvements, Maarten van Werkhoven, Low Carbon Economy Webinar,
		 European Copper Institute, 8 October 2015, slide 29,		https://www.slideshare.net/sustenergy/electric-motor-systems-targeting-and-implementing-efficiency-improvements(7) Based on ABB measurements and customer experience(8)

Based on ABB customer experience(9)		 U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019), page 24,		https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/ieo2019.pdf

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