Driving the next chapter of energy efficiency in the Middle East

The Middle East continues to be at the heart of the global energy industry. At the same time, the region is setting increasingly ambitious expectations around efficiency, productivity and sustainability. For industrial operators, particularly in energy and oil and gas, the challenge is clear: how do we improve efficiency while maintaining the safety, reliability and performance that critical operations demand?

As we come together at ADIPEC 2026, this is a conversation I believe deserves greater attention.

Electric motors are behind many of the processes that keep industry moving, powering pumps, fans and compressors across demanding applications. In hazardous environments, however, efficiency cannot come at the expense of safety or reliability.

This is where technology can make a tangible difference.

ABB has become the first manufacturer globally to offer an IE6 HyperEfficiency motor certified to ATEX and IECEx requirements for hazardous areas. Based on synchronous reluctance (SynRM) technology, it is magnet- and rare-earth-free and delivers up to 60 percent lower energy losses compared with IE3 induction motors commonly used in Zones 1 and 2.

For me, the significance goes beyond achieving a new efficiency level.

“Our customers across the Middle East are looking for practical ways to improve efficiency without compromising safety, reliability or productivity. Innovation becomes meaningful when it can address those priorities simultaneously.”

The technology is designed to work with variable speed drives, delivering high efficiency across the speed range and at partial loads. This makes it particularly relevant for pumps, fans and compressors, applications that are fundamental to energy and process industries across the region.

The potential business impact is equally important. ABB’s analysis shows that over a typical 20-year service life, upgrading just one motor to IE6 could deliver €87,520 in energy savings, with an estimated eight-month payback period and 157,540 kg of CO2 avoided, based on the assumptions used in the comparison.

Multiply this across fleets of motors operating continuously, and efficiency becomes more than a sustainability conversation. It becomes a competitiveness conversation.

Across Middle East and Africa, our ambition for ABB IEC Low Voltage Motors is to connect global innovation with the realities of local industries. In energy and oil and gas, this means supporting both existing operations seeking greater efficiency and new projects being designed for the performance expectations of tomorrow.

“The Middle East is shaping the future of global energy. Our role is to ensure the technologies behind that future evolve with it, delivering measurable improvements in efficiency while providing the reliability and safety our customers expect.”

ADIPEC gives us an important platform to listen to our customers, understand their evolving challenges and demonstrate what is now technologically possible.

Our growth ambition is therefore not simply about bringing more products to the region. It is about becoming an even stronger technology partner to the industries driving the Middle East forward.