The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Cadeo Group to better understand the market and savings opportunities associated with the use of an adjustable speed motor, also known as a Power Drive System (PDS), in the Northwest. Prior NEEA research shows that there is significant PDS energy savings opportunity at the per-unit level in many commercial and industrial applications. Existing research also shows that the adoption of PDSs remains limited—only 22% of all installed commercial and industrial motor horsepower in the United States is equipped with adjustable speed control. Given that motor-driven systems represent more than 50% of all commercial and industrial end-use electricity consumption in United States, there is significant opportunity to reduce electricity consumption by driving adoption of PDSs.
The following report includes 1) a product overview, including information on energy savings opportunity, 2) market characterization to estimate the technical potential, understand how incentive programs currently influence adoption, and the PDS supply chain, and 3) barriers and potential strategies to address and overcome these barriers.
