Industrial Motor System Optimization Projects in the US: An Impact Study

摘要

This study examines data from 41 industrial motor system optimization projectsimplemented between 1995 and 2001 that were developed into DOE case studies todetermine the effect of the energy savings brought about by such projects. The studycalculates aggregate energy savings, the net present value (NPV) of project savings, theinternal rates of return of project cash flow (IRR) for each project as well as for all projectsaggregated together and for projects having large capital expenditures versus those in whichthe systems were optimized primarily with engineering changes. Finally, the study makessome rough estimates of possible energy savings throughout US industry.For this study, projects are considered financially worthwhile if the NPV of theproject savings over a 10-year project life is greater than the project cost. Because the simplepayback criterion is the norm in the DOE case studies, it is used as a complementary measureof success.The initial results suggest that the NPV for most of the projects' savings in the sampleare positive with 10 and 15-year project lives and that many are even positive with 5-yearproject lives. For projects involving large capital purchases a project life of 10 years isrequired for a positive NPV while for projects that primarily involve engineering changes apositive NPV was achieved with a 5-year project life. This suggests that motor systemoptimization projects do not necessarily require large capital expenditures to achievesubstantial energy savings.