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Beating the Climate Change Levy

Beat the new energy tax with Moeller Electric’s energy saving drives

The cost of electricity to major industrial users increased by 0.43p for every kWh on April 1st 2001, in an attempt to reduce consumption and so curb the emission of ‘greenhouse gases’ thought to be responsible for global warming. This is known as the “Climate Change Levy”.

To help industry, the government is introducing Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs), that allow companies to write off 100% of the cost of AC drives, such as Moeller's Optidrive, in the year that they buy the equipment. Moeller's AC drives can substantially reduce energy consumption.

Energy Consumption by Motors

There are approximately 10 million motors being used in Britain today¹. These motors, with a combined capacity of some 70GW, consume about 130TWh, at a cost of around £6,600,000,000.

Nearly half of this energy is used to power motors driving pumps and fans. Most of these run at constant speed, using inefficient mechanical devices such as valves or throttles to vary the rate. Reducing the speed of the fan or pump, using an AC drive is a more efficient way of achieving the same result.

Energy Savings from AC Drives

A small reduction in the speed of a motor can result in a significant drop in energy consumption. For example, an AC drive used to reduce a fan motor speed by 15% can cut energy costs by 40%, enabling the drive to pay for itself in two years or less (assuming you don't make use of the ECA).

As many fan and pump systems run at less than full capacity for much of the time, an AC drive can offer savings of up to 60% in energy bills. Yet 97% of all motors in applications under 2.2kW have no form of speed control at all, equating to some 37 million industrial motors sold annually worldwide.

While pumps and fans, dominate the use of AC drives, there are many new applications emerging. As technology has allowed drives to get ever smaller and the price of such drives to fall dramatically, they are increasingly used to control smaller motors. By 2002, it is estimated that 40% of the value, and 90% in units, of all drives shipped will be less than 40kW.

Moeller’s Optidrive – Reducing your Energy Bill

The Optidrive range offers single and three phase options, from 0.37kW to 160kW. It is highly reliable, and easy to use with simple menu-driven programming.

Moeller's Optidrives are efficient tools for the control of pumps, fans, conveyors or any other applications demanding variable speed control. They have been certified by the Government as meeting energy saving criteria, so businesses can write off the whole of their cost against their taxable profits of the period in which the investment is made, under the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme.

Additional reductions in energy consumption can be achieved using other Moeller products such as the easy Control Relay, which can ensure motors are not left running when they are not needed through the use of time switches and sensors to detect, for example, empty conveyors and fans in empty buildings. A simple solution with quick payback times.

¹ Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

This page last updated: 13 May 2003