Major motor control upgrade strengthens industrial gases production

As well as navigating obsolescence, the upgrade will provide additional control functionality, improved motor performance and long-term technical support. Awarded in May 2026, the project is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2027.

EES will design, supply and perform the factory acceptance test (FAT) and site acceptance test (SAT) for a replacement excitation control panel and electrical protection relay panel. Both new panels will be retrofitted into the same space as the existing equipment.

The replacement system will provide regulated closed-loop excitation control and include EES’ proprietary automatic power factor correction software. This will help ensure the motor is dispatched optimally to meet the site’s local reactive power demands.

The existing system requires operators to adjust excitation manually, which is not feasible in modern power control systems. The replacement will also provide the gases producer with a technical partner able to support the equipment beyond project delivery.

"The customer has previously struggled with OEM support and needed to know it could depend on its excitation supplier," said Ryan Kavanagh, director at EES.

"Replacing obsolete controls is not just a panel swap. The new system must work safely with existing interfaces and meet the site’s operational requirements. We’ll run in-person design workshops to provide reassurance around the replacement equipment and minimise risk at the interfaces with the existing plant." he continued.

"This is an important milestone for EES as this is our first design contract secured directly with a mainland European customer.” said Tim Burchell, head of operations and projects at EES. “It builds on successful design and commissioning work we have delivered for the same customer in the Netherlands and England."

excitationengineering.co.uk