An ideal motor management program manages the risks associated with motor failure while also incorporating energy management. Thus, the savings gained justify the continuation of your motor management program.
Now that you recognize the need for motor management and have calculated the current value of your motor portfolio, the final step in building your motor management business case includes estimating your implementation costs and savings. Here’s three questions that will help you to estimate your costs and benefits from better motor management:
- Which of your motors are not NEMA Premium?
All new motors sold in the US must comply with NEMA Premium™ efficiency standards. This means you will save a significant amount of energy just by replacing those motors whose payback period or IRR meets your organization’s threshold. The energy savings redeemed from this replacement campaign effectively creates a revolving fund for future motor replacements. More importantly, this strategy prevents a bulge in capital replacement expenses in future years.
- How much will condition monitoring save you?
Prescriptive maintenance programs recommend certain interventions every three months or 1,500 run-hours; however, in reality, motor maintenance intervals and interventions vary based on the type of load, ambient conditions, and frequency of operation. Instead, on-going condition monitoring allows you to detect and rectify issues before it causes equipment damage. Condition monitoring also helps you avoid prematurely replacing motors and improves the effectiveness of your maintenance staff. Most importantly, proactive, condition-based maintenance programs enable you to schedule your downtime, minimizing lost revenue and avoiding regulatory fines.
- Which of your facilities are on time-of-use rates?
With on-peak charges up to three times higher than off-peak rates, optimizing your pumping schedules to take advantage of off-peak time-of-use rates can reduce your energy charges by 10% – 15%. To take full advantage of off-peak rates, your water utility will need sufficient finished water storage or equalization basins to hold an average day’s demand/inflow. Producing potable water off-peak will increase the age of your delivered water, which may not be desirable or allowable under your water treatment processes and local regulations. However, your energy savings from shifting production may justify the added storage and process changes required to move operations off-peak. For example, Des Moines built their business case for additional above-ground storage by comparing the cost to produce water 100% off-peak to their actual energy use.
Want to put your numbers to the savings test? Check out our online calculator to size up your potential motor management savings. To learn more, download our white paper on building the business case for managing your motors.