Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RELOTOR (RELUCTANT ELECTRIC MOTOR)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-05-01 bis 2019-08-31
Global energy demands are expected to increase more than 30% by 2040, forcing governments and administrations to elaborate energy consumption regulations for electric motors, which represent 50% of the total consumed power. Thanks to the use of permanent magnets (PMs) based on rare-earth elements (REEs), electric motors are nowadays able to easily reach IE4 super premium efficiencies. However, REEs increase significantly the cost of the motor and they are under a great risk of price escalation and supply constrains, as 85% of REEs production is controlled by China, who has a vast record of geopolitical tactics implementation. SIMEL S.p.A has developed RELOTOR, a compact and cost-effective electric motor, which is able to deliver an IE4 super premium efficiency of 90.4% without the use of REEs. The goal of the present project has been to perform a comprehensive assessment of the technical, commercial and financial feasibility of RELOTOR market deployment.
From the technical point of view, a 3.0 kW RELOTOR prototype has been successfully manufactured and tested in real operation conditions. The obtained results are even better than the estimated ones, demonstrating the technical viability and the outstanding performance of RELOTOR. In addition, we have also performed a detailed market and competitor analysis, confirming the excellent market projections and commercial potential of RELOTOR. Finally, we have drafted a project development roadmap to launch RELOTOR into the market in 24 months. The roadmap includes: a comprehensive work plan, a complete business plan, a detailed commercialisation strategy, an estimation of the required project budget, and the expected 5-years financial projections once RELOTOR is launched to the market.
We aim to commercialize RELOTOR at the same cost range than induction motors, which typically show maximum efficiencies around 85%. Such a competitive price will allow us to offer RELOTOR with one of the shortest payback periods of the market. The successful commercialization of RELOTOR can contribute to save EU member states up to 27 TWh per year (the amount of energy consumed by Portugal annually), and reduce 100 M of tons of CO2 emissions per year, contributing to EU’s 30% energy efficiency target of 2030. Furthermore, RELOTOR can contribute to reduce significantly European bills on REEs imports, and help to place Europe at the forefront of cutting-edge electric motor technologies and innovation.