In May 2025, ABB broke its own world record for energy efficiency in large synchronous electric motors. The new motor, designed in line with its Top Industrial Efficiency (TIE) initiative, is destined for an Indian steel plant. The motor achieved an unprecedented efficiency rating of 99.13 percent under verified IEC testing standards. David Bjerhag, Global Business Line Manager, High-Speed Synchronous at ABB Motion High Power, outlines how they achieved this.
Our TIE initiative addresses a significant gap in international energy efficiency standards for large motors rated at 3 MW and above. Although motors of this size represent only a small portion of the global motor base, they are responsible for approximately 25 percent of all motion-related energy consumption.
Some industries place a higher premium on energy efficiency because they are increasingly prioritizing lower CO₂ emissions and total cost of ownership (TCO). This is especially true in electricity-intensive industries, such as air separation, which is also the application that the Indian steel plant selected for the world record motor.
Air separation operators have among the most energy-intensive industrial processes, where electricity is the dominant cost. That is why the TIE option responds directly to customers who prioritize energy efficiency. It enables them to not only benefit from cost savings and rapid ROI, but also performance benchmarks that significantly exceed baseline standards, providing access to motors and generators with best-in-class performance.
In the case of this record-setting motor, the 99.13 percent efficiency level wasn’t an accidental coincidence; it was intentionally engineered into every aspect of the design from day one. What makes the result even more remarkable is that very few large industrial motors achieve an efficiency of even 98.8%, the highest average efficiency for this type of motor.
Achieving world record efficiency
Achieving the best efficiency level requires complete optimization of every component in the motor. A fundamental enabler was the motor’s six-pole configuration, selected for its lower rotation speeds. The reduced rotational speed directly translates into lower frictional and winding losses, which in turn boost efficiency.
Additionally, the motor’s target air separation application, operating in a stable, non-hazardous environment, allowed design engineers greater flexibility. This provided ABB specialists with the freedom to pursue efficiency optimization without compromising performance or reliability.
Another critical advantage is that the motor features a soft-start system using a variable speed drive (VSD). This choice significantly relaxed design constraints related to starting torque, enabling ABB engineers to design strictly around steady-state operational efficiency. Furthermore, ABB’s selection of the largest possible motor frame provided substantial opportunities for improved thermal performance. The larger physical dimensions allowed greater flexibility in material placement and contributed to optimized cooling.
Material selection was equally critical. To minimize electromagnetic losses, ABB utilized over 24,000 individual laminations, each manufactured from thin, premium-grade electrical steel, in the motor’s stator. This specialized low-loss material effectively reduced core losses, improving overall motor performance. The design team also incorporated higher copper content to increase conductor mass, significantly lowering electrical resistance and associated losses in the windings.
The motor’s efficiency also benefited immensely from ABB’s stringent manufacturing precision and rigorous quality control standards, refined over decades of industrial experience. Our in-house developed design programs, complemented by manual fine-tuning from our top electrical specialists, ensured precision tolerances that eliminated unnecessary energy waste.
These integrated design choices combined to markedly reduce internal losses, resulted in a lower operating temperature with an extended motor life expectancy of more than 25 years.
The role of ABB’s TIE option design workflow
Our design workflow follows a dual-path philosophy: the software can optimize for either the lowest cost or the highest energy efficiency, depending on customer priorities. However, achieving world-record efficiency also requires manual input from ABB’s expert designers.
These engineers take particular pride in pursuing every fraction of a percentage point of efficiency improvement. In practice, this often means patiently working through iterative cycles of refinement to eliminate subtle loss factors and closely examining every detail to extract the final 0.2–0.3% improvement.
The customer-driven nature of our TIE initiative directly enables this level of engineering engagement and rigorous refinement. Because it explicitly places the end customer’s priorities and needs at the center of the design process, it facilitates a deeper level of engineering engagement.
Breaking an eight-year standstill
ABB’s previous world-record motor efficiency of 99.05 percent, set in 2017, was achieved with a similar six-pole synchronous motor designed for an air-separation application. However, opportunities where all enabling factors align, such as large-scale motor sizing, the use of soft-start technology, an efficiency-driven customer, and freedom from restrictive design constraints, are rare.
In the latest case at the Indian steel plant, this ideal convergence of conditions created a “perfect storm,” enabling our engineers to surpass their earlier benchmark and achieve a new efficiency record.
Broader implications
This latest record-breaking motor is clear proof that ultra-high efficiency solutions are technically, operationally, and financially viable today, demonstrated by its payback period of less than one year. Yet the benefits extend beyond immediate cost savings.
Efficiency also significantly reduces CO₂ emissions, meets growing employee and investor expectations, and helps ensure long-term business resilience amid rising electricity prices and carbon-related taxation.
With the TIE initiative, ABB offers more than just another premium tier; it’s an invitation for end users to rethink profitability and efficiency benchmarks, and actively raise their performance standards. It also enables us to push the boundaries of motor efficiency even further, despite the increasing challenges posed by physical laws and real-world constraints.
Visit ABB’s Top Industrial Efficiency landing page today to discover how we can help your business achieve record-breaking efficiency and sustainability gains.
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