In modern society in terms of economics and environmental impact, it is important to ensure that a company is as energy efficient as possible to reduce the amount of energy used. About 10 TWh of electricity used annually to pump drives in Swedish industry. Therefore, pumping system has great potential for energy savings.

The objective of this report was to determine how much energy and money that can be saved with the insertion of variable speed drive to six pumps on Bleach plant 4 in Skutskär Mill. The work was performed with electrical measurements during one week, analysis of pump curves and the compilation of production data over a year.

The results show that four of these six pumps were profitable and yielded an annual saving of 1172 MWh of electricity and 560 000 SEK. With an economic lifetime of 10 years and a discount rate of 6.8% the final result for the entire life-cycle savings became 3 355 000 SEK. The conclusion was that it is preferred to introduce variable speed drive on pumps with a motor power above 50 kW.