INFORMATION RELATED TO THE NEW EFFICIENCY CLASSES OF THE ELECTRIC MOTORS, SECOND PHASE OF THE REGULATION 640/2009/EC

You should recall that the 16 June 2011 in all countries of the European Community the regulation 640/2009/EC entered in force. This regulation set the rules of application of the directive 2005/32 related to the ecodesign of the electric motors specifying the minimum standard of efficiency of the motors. In particular, since that date in EU the minimum class of efficiency for the electric motors from 0.75kW is IE2.
By the 1° January 2015 the second step of this regulation will enter in force and the minimum class of efficiency for the electric motor from 7.5kW up to 375kW will be IE3.
In alternative, the IE2 motors will be accepted but only for frequency converter use.
The application field of this regulation is including for the moment the standard asynchronous, three phase, squirrel cage electric motor 50/60Hz, with single speed and S1 service, for safe area (no Atex, no HT).
IE2 motors already placed in the market before the 31 December 2014 are allowed to be traded in the market even after the deadline.
Motors destined exclusively to export outside the UE can be manufactured and traded in IE1 and IE2 efficiency class even after the deadline. For this purpose a suitable declaration shall be forwarded to the motor manufacturer.
As you can imagine, IE3 motors compensate an initial higher cost, with a much higher efficiency level, consuming less energy and contribute significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.