SOLAR AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
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How to avoid the pain of motor replacement procrastination
you to act. MEPS doesn’t mean you must replace everything right now, so use this window to revisit your motor inventory and plan around maintenance and replacement. By taking a phased approach, you’ll achieve both compliance and proactively improve your overall motor management strategy,” says Steyn.
intentions. Manage this issue by creating motor inventories and then prioritising high-performance motors first. These are typically motors that run continuously, such as for HVAC systems, pumps, compressors, and escalators. Use energy audits: Energy audits will identify motors with the highest operational cost. If you replace those first, they maximise short-term savings while getting more mileage from less impactful motors. The combined savings can help fund a steady rollout of replacement motors. The top electric motor vendors have the experience and skills to help with energy audits. Replace motors iteratively: Apart from a few exceptions, all electric motors will eventually be replaced by IE3-standard or better models. Rather than wait until the last minute to replace motors, which is costly, inefficient, and disruptive, you can strategically retire motors and spread out your capital investments. Selectively redeploy motors: While MEPS covers a wide range of motor uses, you can redeploy some IE1 and IE2 motors to applications with less stringent efficiency demands. “My advice to electric motor operators is, ‘Don’t procrastinate!’. You either take advantage of the change, or it will force
Preparing for MEPS doesn’t mean replacing every motor. There are several ways to build towards a smooth and even lucrative transition. Conduct motor inventories: You can use MEPS to motivate a survey of your motor inventory for maintenance, redeployment, and replacement planning. MEPS doesn’t require replacing current motors until they reach the end of their lifespans—a survey will catalogue motors based on their expected lifespans to inform maintenance and replacement timelines. Update procurement: Start updating your procurement policies and train procurement staff to support the MEPS transition. Vet motor suppliers to ensure they hold appropriate stock for replacements and can provide information on motor efficiency classes, performance tests, and warranty conditions to ensure quality and compliance. Provide training and update processes for procurement teams to support MEPS requirements and vendor assessments. Focus on TCO: An appropriate and maintained IE3 motor can recoup its costs in one to five years, or even in months for continuously running motors. You are more likely to enjoy a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) when you replace an old motor with an IE3 model instead of repairing or rewiring it. Speak to efficiency experts and motor vendors to determine the best cost strategy. Prioritise high-performance workloads: The sheer number of motors you rely on could overwhelm your best transition may make sense in other regions can’t be replicated in South Africa without displacing people who rely on jobs for their livelihoods. There is a constant need to find a delicate balance between the need to evolve and advance, alongside ensuring people aren’t left behind. This dynamic has created a uniquely South African version of the clean energy transition. The industry continues to modernise, but it does so in a way that supports employment and economic participation. In practice, this has widened the definition of what the renewable energy workforce looks like, bringing a different emphasis to roles and attributes that weren’t essential a decade ago. Looking into the future, the introduction of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) is going to change the demand for talent even more. Energy trading, day-ahead forecasting and financial modelling are already well- established careers in the UK and Europe, but are relatively new locally. South Africa’s move towards a more open
WEG Africa shares seven tips to get the most benefit and value from the updated Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for electric motors. Electric motors consume nearly half of the world’s electricity. From heavy-duty cranes and pumps to conveyor belts and air conditioning, the world literally moves on electric motors. Improving efficiency will deliver significant cost savings and energy gains, which is why numerous countries, including South Africa, have established MEPS regulations. MEPS requires most electric motors to eventually adopt the IE3 standard, replacing IE1 and IE2 motors. While motor operators can phase out older motors, IE3 motors are significantly more efficient and require lower maintenance. Businesses should start developing their replacement plans. Yet, many are unsure of the best approach to exploit the MEPS transition, says Fanie Steyn, LV&HV executive of WEG’s Electric Motor division. “The average mid-sized factory can run several dozen to a few hundred electric motors. Some are delaying replacements because they worry that it will draw attention and resources away from their main priorities. They’d rather wait until a motor breaks and replace it then. But that approach costs more because it leaves savings on the table and rushes preparations, such as procurement training. Right now, it is the best time to start thinking about how MEPS affects them.”
Enquiries: www.weg.net
Fanie Steyn, LV&HV executive of WEG’s Electric Motor division.
My advice to electric motor operators is, ‘Don’t procrastinate!’. You either take advantage of the change, or it will force you to act. - Fanie Steyn, WEG
The future of work in the renewable energy economy By: Alicia Dean, head of People and Group Services at SOLA Group T he renewable energy sector stepped up when legacy infrastructure struggled to keep pace. Now, this sector is changing
connected to the mission of building a cleaner, more stable future, although this is not their only motivation. The rapid change of pace in the sector is alluring for people who enjoy problem-solving and rapid innovation. This is where balance is key. The sector needs to build a long-term talent pipeline that recognises all parts of society, creating opportunities for skills development and career growth. Skills development often happens in shorter- term, community-based interventions aligned with project locations and partnerships with universities and TVET colleges. Internship and vacation work opportunities help create exposure, but do not yet meet the scale of national demand for specialised renewable energy skills. The sector relies on scarce skills in high-pressure delivery environments, and companies must create workplaces where people can thrive. At SOLA, values are embedded into the performance system so that how work is done carries equal weight to what is delivered. Much of the industry’s strength lies in the mix of deep technical expertise alongside curiosity and the willingness to take on complex challenges. The clean energy transition is creating new job categories and redefining old ones. It is expanding opportunities while demanding new skills, new mindsets and new forms of collaboration. It also asks that companies prioritise skills development across South Africa because right now, the door is open and there is plenty of opportunity.
electricity market will make these skills increasingly important, presenting an opportunity for skills transfer between the financial services and energy sectors. The sector is also attracting experienced professionals from mining, oil and other heavy industries who are looking for work that carries more meaning. Many want to contribute to long-term energy security and climate resilience, and renewable energy offers a way to do that. Internal engagement data consistently shows that people working in the sector feel
the industry in South Africa at multiple levels. From employment to innovation to global best practice, South Africa’s renewable energy economy is transforming the industry. And yet, when it comes to employment and skills development, the sector continues to grapple with some serious gaps. The first is permanence. The industry hasn’t fundamentally transformed net job creation, with only 6,000 permanent jobs created. The rest are temporary. Many people are working on the initial construction phases of a project, but their skills aren’t translating into long-term roles. Another challenge is how the country’s exceptionally high unemployment rate is affecting how intelligent technologies can be adopted – automation and robotics that
The sector relies on scarce skills in high-pressure delivery environments, and companies must create workplaces where people can thrive. - By: Alicia Dean, SOLA Group
Alicia Dean, head of People and Group Services at SOLA Group.
Enquiries: www.solagroup.co.za
SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS
FEBRUARY 2026
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