World-record efficiency motor will pay for itself in just three months
28 May 2025 
ABB claims to have broken its own world record for the energy efficiency of large synchronous electric motors with a new machine destined for a steel plant in India. The motor has achieved an efficiency of 99.13% during testing – a substantial improvement over ABB’s previous world record of 99.05%, set in 2017.
The motor will drive an air separation unit that will liquify atmospheric air at the unnamed Indian plant, allowing oxygen and nitrogen to be separated out to provide pure gases for the steelmaking process. It is estimated that the steel plant will save an estimated $5.9m in electricity costs through improved energy efficiency over the motor’s 25-year lifespan.
The installation is expected to pay for itself in just over three months.
ABB has designed the motor in line with its Top Industrial Efficiency (Tie) initiative, which delivers motors and generators that are engineered to exceed standard performance benchmarks. They help users to cut electricity use, running costs and TCO (total cost of ownership), without compromising performance or adding complexity.
The Tie initiative addresses a gap in energy efficiency standards for motors larger than 3MW. Despite being a small part of the global motor base, these machines consume around a quarter of all motion-related energy.
By opting for a Tie-optimised motor, rather than a standard design with 98.64% efficiency, the Indian steelmaker will save around 61GWh of energy and $5.9m in electricity costs over the motor’s 25-year lifespan – equivalent to four days of peak output from the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The average efficiency for synchronous motors of this type is typically between 98.2% and 98.5%.
The motor will also help the steelmaker to avoid 45,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions – comparable to removing 10,000 cars from the road for a year. The scope for savings and avoided emissions would be even bigger in other countries where electricity is more expensive.
“This project shows how our products go beyond standards with our Top Industrial Efficiency initiative which delivers large motors and generators with the highest possible energy efficiency,” says ABB Motion president, Brandon Spencer. “This initiative helps our customers to boost profitability since electricity costs are, by far, the largest component in the TCO of this type of motor. At the same time, they are also cutting their carbon emissions.”
