Brussels, 14/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The new eco-design regulation for electric transformers, adopted by the European Commission on Wednesday 14 May, will require new transformers put into service on the EU internal market to fulfil minimum energy efficiency criteria from 1 July 2015. These minimum criteria will become stricter by July 2021 so as to give manufacturers, electricity companies and industrial users time to adapt to this change.
The regulation covers the weak, medium and large power transformers used in transport and electricity distribution networks, and in industrial applications - but it excludes single-phase transformers.
While power transformers are generally very efficient, even slight improvements to their efficiency can lead to large energy savings, given their typical service life of at least 30 years. Due to the high number of transformers in service in Europe - estimated at 3.6 million units in 2011 and calculated at 4.7 million units in 2025 - the effects of this regulation will be considerable, says the European Commission in a press release.
While making less effective models disappear from the market, the regulation will bind economic operators to purchase more efficient models, for which the amortisation time is estimated at around eight years. The gradual replacement of all transformers installed in the EU with more efficient models will enable large energy savings to be achieved - estimated at 16 TWh per year, or 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
This regulation comes on top of around 20 regulations on eco-design that have already been adopted and that cover domestic articles and industrial products such as motors and electric pumps. (EH)