When USG Industrial Utilities, a producer and distributor of electricity, power, and industrial gases located in Geleen, Netherlands, was looking for options to replace their obsolete non-ABB variable speed drives, they turned to ABB for advice. ABB suggested as a first step performing an onsite energy audit to understand the energy efficiency of the electrical motor-driven pump systems. The results were clear: by replacing nine of the old motors with highly efficient ones with IE4 technology and precisely controlling the operating point with ACS880 drives, USG could cut the pumps’ yearly electricity consumption by 4.5% and save around 360MWh, which is the equivalent of the average annual energy consumed by 130 homes in the Netherlands*. The payback time of the net investment would be somewhere between one and three years based on the energy prices at the time of the investment decision.
The upgrade was implemented during a planned shutdown to avoid unnecessary downtime, and the old equipment will be upcycled with the support of local recycling companies. They will extract more than 98% of the materials from the old motors and up to 90% of the materials from the old drives to be reused as raw materials to produce new ABB motors, among other things.
“The appraisal showed how much energy we could save by upgrading the whole drivetrain,” says Sonny Schepers, Senior Sustainability Engineer & Advisor Commercial Affairs at USG Industrial Utilities. Initially, we were only considering replacing the old drives, but the appraisal convinced us that it would be more impactful to also replace our motors. This project is a great fit with our efficiency and sustainability strategies, and we were surprised by how easy it was to implement the solutions and by the short payback time.”
ABB motors installed base at the USG plant; Photo credit: USG Industrial Utilities 
Maintenance team at USG plant; Photo credit: USG Industrial Utilities 
Maintenance team at USG plant; Photo credit: USG Industrial Utilities 
ABB IE4 new motor being installed at the USG plant; Photo credit: USG Industrial Utilities
With the help of energy audits, customers can do more with less by improving the energy efficiency of their motor-driven applications, whether pumps and fans or compressors and mixers. An ABB Energy Appraisal gives a detailed insight into how motor-driven applications perform, helping to make better decisions on ways to save energy, lower CO2 emissions, and boost a company’s overall sustainability.
“We’ve had a service agreement with USG for close to 15 years. Our goal is to support USG in finding the right services for them so that they operate as reliable, sustainable, and efficient as possible” says August Zaal, Account Manager at ABB Motion Services.
