In 2011, the EU implemented minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for electric motors used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications with Commission Regulation (EC) 640/2009, which was implemented in three stages through 2017, and its amendment Regulation (EU) 4/2014.

In October 2019, Regulation (EC) 640/2009 was replaced with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1781, which outlines updated efficiency requirements for motors and new requirements for variable speed drives. The requirements in the first stage of Regulation (EU) 2019/1781 went into effect on July 1, 2021, and the second stage of requirements will take effect on July 1 2023. The new regulation broadens the scope of motors that are covered, implements higher efficiency standards, and — for the first time — includes efficiency requirements for variable speed drives (VSDs).

The regulation (EU) 2019/1781 covers 3-phase, single speed motors with 2, 4, 6, or 8 poles, rated for direct-on-line operation at 50 Hz, 60 Hz, or 50/60 Hz, rated for continuous duty operation, with power output from 0.12 kW to 1000 kW.

The regulation also includes, for the first time, efficiency requirements for variable speed drives. The variable speed drives covered are those with three phase input that are rated for operating one motor (as described above) within the 0.12 kW to 1000 kW motor output range, with a rated voltage from 100 VAC up to and including 1000 VAC, and that have only one AC voltage output.

There are exceptions for the range of covered motors and VSDs, such as those that are completely integrated into another product so that the efficiency of the motor (or drive) cannot be tested independently, motors rated for explosive environments (Ex-rated), and motors used in cordless or handheld equipment.

Efficiency requirements that took effect on July 1, 2021:

Efficiency of IE3 required for:

• Motors with rated output equal to or greater than 0.75 kW and less than 1000 kW, with 2, 4, 6, or 8 poles, that are not Ex eb increased safety motors

Efficiency of IE2 required for:

• Motors with rated output equal to or greater than 0.12 kW and less than 0.75 kW, with 2, 4, 6, or 8 poles, that are not Ex eb increased safety motors

It should also be noted that the new regulation does away with the option of meeting efficiency requirements by using an IE2 rated motor with a VSD.

Efficiency of IE2 required for:

• Variable speed drives for motors with a rated output power from and including 0.12 kW to 1000 kW

Efficiency requirements that take effect on July 1, 2023:

Efficiency of IE2 required for:

• Ex eb increased safety motors with rated output equal to or greater than 0.12 kW up to and including 1000 kW, with 2, 4, 6, or 8 poles
• Single-phase motors with rated output equal to or greater than 0.12 kW

Efficiency of IE4 required for:

• Three-phase motors that are not brake motors, Ex eb increased safety motors, or other explosion-protected motors, with a rated output equal to or greater than 75 kW up to and including 200 kW, with 2, 4, or 6 poles

Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/341 is an amendment to Regulation (EU) 2019/1781 (as well as to other regulations regarding ecodesign requirements for electrical products) to clarify and improve some of the regulations adopted in Regulation (EU) 2019/1781.

Although the amendments are mostly for clarification, one important point in this revision is the updated definition of a variable speed drive:

 “Variable speed drive” (“VSD”) means an electronic power converter that continuously adapts the electrical power supplied to a single motor to control the motor’s mechanical power output according to the torque-speed characteristic of the load driven by the motor, by adjusting the power supply to a variable frequency and voltage supplied to the motor. It includes all protection devices and auxiliaries which are integrated in the VSD.

Although the efficiency requirements set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/1781 only apply to products sold in the EU, many other countries have adopted the EU requirements or set their own, similar requirements for motor efficiency.