Feasibility study of a disruptive low-cost and low-maintenance electrical machine technology for industrial drives and grid-connected energy storage systems

Partners: Cepower Ltd (Lead, University Of East Anglia

Country: South Africa

Technology: Energy storage, including batteries and mechanical storage

Stage: Early

Stage: 9

This project will assess the feasibility of a newly configured induction motor technology with brushless rotor design for use in industrial variable speed drive (VSD) applications including grid-connected flywheel energy storage drives. It offers substantial reductions, projected to be over 25%, in the system capital cost as compared to conventional VSD technologies by utilising a fractional-size frequency converter. It hence enables a far greater proportion of motor applications to benefit from the energy efficiency and improved environmental impact of VSDs.

The core technology has been progressively developed in computer simulation and small-scale laboratory prototypes and the aim of this project is to prove the technology feasibility on a credible-sized experimental prototype VSD system and to assess its economics and benefits for industrial VSD applications