AC Drives - Medium Voltage

The Medium Voltage AC Drives Market Research Study delivers current market analysis plus a five year market and technology forecast.  The study is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries.

Medium voltage AC drives are applied in process and discrete manufacturing industries and provide speed, motion, and torque control for equipment such as fans, pumps, compressors, conveyors, kilns, centrifuges, mixers, hoists, cranes, and extruders.  Medium voltage AC drives are predominantly higher power drives that are greater than 0.2 MW.  The heavy industries such as mining, metals, electric power generation, cement & glass, water & wastewater, marine, and oil & gas widely use medium voltage AC drives.  This global market research report covers hardware, software, and services for the medium voltage AC drives market with the following power ranges: >0.2-0.6 MW; >0.6-3 MW; >3-7.5 MW; >7.5-10 MW; >10 MW-20 MW; and >20 MW.  

Medium Voltage AC Drives: Digitalization Is a Necessity for Sustainable Operations

ARC research on the Medium Voltage AC Drives market reveals that digitalization enables ease of maintenance, productivity, and efficiency, that is necessary for sustainable plant operations. Digitalization in the drive technology allows transparency and easy access to relevant data of motors and converters, data analysis, monitoring the status and performance of the drive system, and to predict equipment failures beforehand, minimizing unnecessary shutdowns that can cost millions of dollars. End user companies could reap significant improvement in their operating performance, enabling them to succeed in today’s highly competitive market by embracing such technologies.

Medium Voltage AC Drives Strategic Issues

In addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the medium voltage AC drives market research provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues as follows.

Seek Solutions to Reduce Harmonics    

Medium voltage AC drives produce harmonics on the electric power supply system. These harmonics are of great concern to power regulatory authorities because if there is any deviation from the pure sine wave supply for which electrical equipment is designed, the equipment will not function as well if there is a harmonic component in the line. End users should evaluate medium voltage AC drives suppliers for techniques used to lower the harmonic impact on power lines. It is important for end users to seek medium voltage AC drives to offer low harmonic drives, which use techniques such as an active harmonic filter or the active front end to reduce harmonics.

Implement Robust Cybersecurity    

The new Industrial IoT-enabled connectivity, data management, and predictive analytics capabilities increase customer value. However, this connected environment also makes AC drives systems more vulnerable due to additional entry points for external attacks. Consequently, the successful use of AC drives systems within an overall Industrial IoT ecosystem requires robust cybersecurity. Some automation suppliers collaborate with cloud providers to provide security and offer proactive security products to monitor and manage cybersecurity risks.

Leverage Industrial Internet of Things or Industry 4.0    

AC drives products are being updated with new features to fulfill many markets’ demands and increase their value proposition, such as the growing demand for smart connected products based on, for example, Industrial IoT or Industry 4.0. Smart connected products provide opportunities to increase operational efficiency from the plant floor to the supply chain by optimizing data, information, and analytics ranging.

Industrial IoT can play a major role in maintenance-related activities, such as remotely monitoring AC drives systems and initiating orders for the replacement of AC drives. While industrial operations generally have a good understanding of both reactive and preventive maintenance, Industrial IoT enhances maintenance approaches by enabling condition-based, predictive, and prescriptive maintenance. Depending on an operation, moving from preventive maintenance to predictive or prescriptive approaches provides significant savings in maintenance labor and MRO materials. With predictive and prescriptive maintenance, near-zero unplanned downtime for critical equipment can be achieved, providing huge business benefits.