Conmotator: Advanced, Integrated Machines for Efficient Manufacture & Operation

**Vision: Advancing PEMD through integrating large electric machines and convertors.**

Today almost all motor applications take advantage of variable speed for efficiency, deploying a power electronic convertor between machine and grid to achieve this. Especially for high power applications, motors and convertors have become functionally inseparable, but industry continues to make them physically two discrete components, cabled together.

**Innovation: integration of power electronics and electrical machines into a single housing to form an integrated electrical drive brings several benefits** such as, increased power density, reduced overall footprint, cabling, cooling, overall system layout flexibility and cost. Because of these benefits, integrated drives are gaining market share in small drives of ratings below 1 MW, but there are some integration and manufacturing challenges to commercially exploit these benefits and achieve this fusion at multi-megawatt scale.

**Focus**: Often in megawatt-scale power electronics and electrical machines, the design and manufacturing of the electronics and electrical machines are undertaken by separate teams. To fully realise the benefits of their fusion, an integrated design and manufacturing team with skill sets ranging from power electronics to electrical machines and advanced manufacturing is paramount. This collaborative project will draw expertise from industrial disciplines and academia to unlock the key design-for-manufacture, integration and manufacturing aspects to allow a multi-megawatt machine with integrated power electronics at scale to be brought closer to market, by derisking key areas.

The 'Conmotator' project (combined convertor-motor to electronic commutator) project investigates and addresses the key technological, integration and manufacturing challenges to allow the commercial exploitation of an integrated electrical machine where the power electronics and motor are contained within a single physical unit at the multi-MW level.

The project develops and tests the interfaces that bridge between existing Motor and Drive elements and investigates manufacturing/supply chain aspects related to megawatt scale integrated electrical machines to pave the way for full commercial exploitation, targeting the benefits at a worldwide market, placing UK industry as world class leader in this field.