Abstract Although the design and manufacturing technology of submersible rotary pump units (SRPU) are constantly improving, for the last few years no fundamental technological solutions for the drives of these units have been offered. Efficiency of submersible asynchronous electric motors which conditions both energy consumption and service life has virtually never been changed within many years. Today, it has become obvious that opportunities of further efficiency increase for standard electric motors of PED type (submersible) are virtually exhausted. During operation of SRPU in specific modes the resource of PED and the unit as a whole significantly decreases.