Calculate your VSD loan savings online

ABB has developed an on-line calculator (below) that helps smaller companies to evaluate the economics of using the Government`s Action Energy loan scheme to buy variable speed drives. The calculations show that even with modest energy savings, the interest-free loans can save firms several hundreds of pounds a month.

The loans, which are available to companies with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £25m, spread the repayments over four years.

The loans are "a really good incentive to small companies to start saving energy with variable speed drives," says James Haigh, senior vice-president in ABB`s drives products division. "This is a customer group where cash flow issues can be of paramount importance, regardless of the energy-saving potential.

"Essentially, users are getting paid to use a variable speed drive," he adds. "By proving the energy savings as well as making the business case for either a new drive installation, or the replacement of an existing drive, we can make a substantial improvement to the cash flow of a small business".

For example, in the case of a 70kW pumping station running for 8,000 hours a year at 70% of the maximum motor speed, a suitable drive would cost around £5,400 to install. With a loan being paid off at £112 month, the monthly saving would be £421, rising to £533 a month after four years when the loan had been paid off.

Even in replacement installations, the higher efficiencies of modern VSDs can result in useful savings compared to older drives technologies, ABB contends.

The payback calculator can be found on ABB`s Web site.