September 2019

TWO DOZEN electrotechnical manufacturers with UK operations – including ABB, Eaton, GE, Mitsubishi Electric, Schneider Electric and Siemens – have pledged to reduce their emissions to net-zero by 2050. The announcement was made at the London launch of a new report from Beama, the trade body for the sector, which warns that setting targets in legislation alone will not be enough to achieve net-zero emissions. The report, called Net Zero By Design, and an accompanying letter from the pledge signatories, argues that investment in the low- carbon sector has been impeded by the lack of stable and effective regulation. It adds that national leadership is needed urgently to drive the rapid deployment of these technologies, which will be crucial if the UK is to meet its international climate change commitments. The report contains a number of policy recommendations on how the Government could make the UK a world leader in new technologies for smart, flexible electrical systems – including making the future direction of regulation clearer, reforming building regulations, implementing a carbon price for heat, and reducing VAT for low-carbon technologies. The Beama report aligns closely with recommendations from the Committee on Climate Change, which has published its own Net Zero paper, arguing that while the technology is primed and ready to make the 2050 target feasible, it will only be reached through strong leadership from the Government. www.beama.org.uk Electrical manufacturers commit to net-zero emissions SCHAEFFLER IS entering electric motor manufacturing with a family of modular motors aimed at electric vehicle applications. The motors, in ratings from 20kW to more than 300kW, at voltages from 48 to 800V, are being designed for efficiency and a good price/performance ratios. Volume production is due to begin in 2021. Schaeffler says that it plugged the last remaining gap in its technology portfolio – stator production – when it bought the winding specialist, Elmotec Statomat, at the end of 2018. It says it now has the expertise in mechanical components, manufacturing processes and winding technologies needed to enter full production of motor systems. “Understanding and mastering transmissions, electric motors, and power electronics is an art in itself”, explains Dr Jochen Schröder, head of Schaeffler’s E-Mobility business. “Making a functioning overall system and powertrain out of all these things is another. We are experts in both.” Schaeffler plans to produce motors for hybrid drive systems that need to run at the same speed as internal combustion engines, as well as axle drives for all-electric vehicles that have to run at speeds of up to 20,000 rpm. For hybrid drives, it will using a distributed winding technology called bar wave winding, that was developed by Elmotec. This can be used, for example, to produce a 137mm-long 125kW motor that deliver 310Nm of torque. Bar wave winding will also be used to produce axle motors for all-electric vehicles operating at voltages up to 800V and with power ratings of 300kW or more. These high-efficiency, high-power- density motors will have large numbers of stator grooves to reduce temperatures and to deliver rotating fields with low harmonics. Schaeffler’s portfolio of EV motors will include machines for use in hybrid systems n NEWS 6 September 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com p The global market for electric motors will exceed $36bn by 2024, representing a CAGR of 7.7% since 2016, when it was worth $21bn, says Global Market Insights in a new report. In a separate report, the analyst predicts that the global market for bearings will exceed $140bn by 2022, with a CAGR of 7.5% since 2014. www.gminsights.com p Yasa , the UK manufacturer of axial- flux motors and controllers for electric vehicles, has closed a £18m funding round. The company will use the money to help it meet a rapidly growing demand for its products. In May, Oxford-based Yasa announced that Ferrari would be using its motors in its first hybrid-electric supercar. p The Brazilian motor-maker WEG is inaugurating a 14,500m 2 factory in China to produce LV frequency inverters, mini circuit breakers and residual current devices. The plant will beWEG’s fourth in China, but its first dedicated to industrial automation products. p The global market for industrial robots was worth $18.8bn in 2018 and will reach $60bn by 20120 – a CAGR of 15.7% – according to a new report from Fortune Business Insights . Another report, from Tractica , looking at both non- industrial and industrial robots , says the combined market will expand from $48.9bn in 2018 to reach $248.5bn by 2025. It says the market is shifting to non-industrial uses, which it predicts will be 10–12 times larger than industrial applications. www.fortunebusinessinsights.com www.tractica.com p Softing has acquired the assets of Phoenix Digital Corporation (PDC) , which supplies secure fibre optics products for industrial communications including high-availability networking modules. p Wood is integrating Automated Technology Group (which it acquired in 2015) and CEC Controls (which it acquired in 2017) into its global brand, thus strengthening its automation and controls business. Wood now has a global pool of more than 1,400 automation professionals. p Aerotech and Micronix USA have formed a global partnership under which they will offer complementary ,precison systems – in particular for nanopositioning. Working together, the companies hope to expand their core competencies. They will be able to offer a wider array of stepper motors, controllers, drives and software for positioning applications p PI Ceramic, a subsidiary of Physik Instrumente (PI) , is investing $11m to expand its piezo transducer production facilities in Lederhose, Germany, boosting its existing 11,150m 2 floor area by about 50%. The site employs about 330 people – about 25% of PI’s workforce. Schaeffler enters motor manufacturing with a portfolio aimed at EVs