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G220, S200, S210, S220 — making sense of the new SINAMICS generation

SINAMICSDrivesIndustry briefing

Four new SINAMICS names have landed since 2023 and they get mixed up constantly (we’ve heard “G210” more than once — it doesn’t exist). Here’s the sorted version.

SINAMICS G220 — the new general-purpose VFD

The high-performance successor tier to G120, and the first SINAMICS drive in the Xcelerator portfolio. 0.55–160 kW, IP20 built-in and IP55 wall-mounted, conformal-coated boards as standard.

What’s actually different from a G120:

  • Safety without the F-variant shuffle. STO and SS1-t at SIL 3 / PL e / Cat 4 come standard, via terminals or PROFIsafe. Extended functions (SLS, SS2, SDI, SOS and friends) are a licence unlock, not a different control unit. On a PROFIsafe-zoned plant that simplifies the BOM considerably.
  • Clean Power variant: under 2% current harmonics with no line reactor and no DC-link choke (7.5 kW and up). That’s a line reactor deleted from the panel layout, and a ready answer when the supply authority asks about harmonics on a big pump or fan board.
  • Web-server commissioning built in — no Smart Access module, no installed app, just a browser. Treat that port as an OT security asset: configure user management rather than leaving defaults.
  • PROFINET with MRP and S2 system redundancy, plus EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP onboard.

SINAMICS S200 — the entry servo

A servo package: S200 converter plus SIMOTICS S-1FL2 motors, 0.1–7 kW, 350% overload. Two flavours — PN (PROFINET, commissioned in Startdrive, pairs naturally with S7-1200 G2 and S7-1500) and PTI (pulse-train input). The PTI variant is the quiet retrofit gem: it adds a positioning axis to a legacy machine without touching the fieldbus — but note it is not commissioned through Startdrive, so plan tooling separately. Safety is terminal STO/SS1-t only, Standard variant only — if you need PROFIsafe servo safety, look at S210 or S220.

SINAMICS S210 — refreshed, not replaced

The compact one-cable servo got a new hardware generation in January 2024 with V6 firmware: a second encoder interface for direct measuring systems, EtherNet/IP for non-Siemens controllers, and the EPOS positioner running on the drive itself — which offloads a busy PLC nicely on simple positioning axes.

SINAMICS S220 — the S120 successor

The big one, launched October 2025. The new CU320-3 control unit runs up to 12 axes, motor modules span 1.1–900 kW, and DRIVE-CLiQ-Express links the lineup at 1 Gbit/s. The safety cycle drops from 12 ms to 4 ms at SIL 3, and the platform is IEC 62443-4-1 certified — a sign of where machine-builder cybersecurity requirements are heading. The X128 interface streams high-frequency drive data for predictive maintenance, which is exactly the kind of signal a condition-monitoring pilot wants. TIA Portal V21 adds S220 support, so the drive sets your minimum Portal version.

What about G120?

No phase-out has been announced. G120, G120C, G120X and G115D remain active catalogue products, fully supported in current Startdrive. There is no forced-migration story here: G220 is the right call on new builds that want the harmonics, security and commissioning story; a like-for-like G120 extension on an existing line is still a perfectly sound spec, and spares are safe.

Version requirements, in one line

G220 and S200 PN are native in Startdrive from TIA Portal V19/V20; the new S210 likewise; S220 needs V21. Anything still engineered on V17/V18 should budget a Portal upgrade before specifying the new generation.

Sources

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