Europe | May 2, 2023

Standardization developments for electricity metering equipment

Standards create common rules for all the players: manufacturers, utilities and consumers, therefore, they are of great benefit to the entire sector.

 

KEMA Labs standards

Image source: CESI

Standards create common rules for all the players: manufacturers, utilities and consumers. For that reason, they are of great benefit to the entire sector, provided that there are common ways to prove the compliance of the equipment to the standards themselves.

Standards can apply nationally or internationally, depending on the specific needs, but in both cases, they ensure quicker introduction of innovative technologies, while increasing safety for society.

IEC Technical Committee TC13 deals with standardization in the field of electrical energy measurement and control, for smart metering equipment and systems forming part of smart grids. Those components, initially installed in a few selected points, are nowadays pervading the whole electrical grid, being used in power stations, along the feeders and by energy users and producers. Since one of the aims of TC13 is also to prepare international standards for meter test equipment and testing methods, KEMA Labs is heavily contributing to that technical committee, participating in several working groups.

Due to the quick evolution, during the last decade, those existing standards were often revised, and new sections were introduced to cover the increasing smart metering developments. In 2005, the IEC 62055-31 was introduced for prepayment meters. In 2015, the IEC 62052-31 was introduced for product safety.

In 2020 a major step was taken: new versions of the EN-IEC product standards for electricity metering equipment, the EN-IEC 62052-11, EN-IEC 62053-21, –22, –23, and –24, were published. These second editions cancel and replace the first editions published in 2003, including their 2016 amendments. The main novelties concern some items aiming at starting to deal with DC meters and instrument transformers connected to the measurement units. Next to these test methods, requirements and guidance are given for multi-branch meters, integrated and detached displays, ways of energy registration, and operation of supply control and load control switches. The product safety (IEC 62052-31) and stability of metrological characteristics by applying elevated temperature (IEC 62059-32) are now integral parts of the 2020 versions. New tests are included for clock and timing accuracy (IEC 62054-21), load current variations, 2 kHz to 150 kHz disturbances on mains ports, and ring wave on main ports and requirements are given for repeatability and meter marking and documentation. Finally, some details of existing tests are changed.

The work developed in IEC-EN committees is usually published, after a certain period of time, in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), replacing the old documents.

As of February 26, 2023, the 2006 versions of EN 50470-1/-3, the harmonized standards for energy meters for the European Measuring Instrument Directive MID 2014/32/EU, have been withdrawn from the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and therefore they are no longer harmonized standards. Unlikely, there is still uncertainty about when the newly updated documents (EN 62052-11:2021 / EN 50470-3:2022) will be published so we have ended up with a period in which no harmonized standards are available for certification to the MID. How to deal with this?

Notified bodies, the entities such as KEMA Laboratories authorized to issue MID compliance certifications, acquire a key role in such a peculiar transition period, since they represent the ones who can manage the gap. Knowing very well the new versions (EN 62052-11:2021 / EN 50470-3:2022) and being accredited for performing the tests prescribed in those standards, a notified body is expected to offer only the new versions for certification by advising, guiding and recommending manufacturers to implement their products according to EN 62052-11:2021 / EN 50470-3:2022, as they contain all the latest requirements for smart energy meters.

KEMA Labs already adapted to the new 2020 standards by implementing new test procedures or revising existing test procedures and methods. Next to this, also the product safety standard EN-IEC 62052-31 was implemented with state-of-the-art facilities for switch endurance testing at different power factors and switch short circuit testing up to 10.000 A, single fault testing, and safety assessment. For the clock and timing accuracy tests the laboratory has access to a GPS time synchronization network with PPS, IRIG-B, and PTP.

But the standardization process never stops. At this moment working groups within IEC TC13 are developing new standards for new technologies. In 2021 the first edition of the IEC 62053-41 for DC meters was introduced and new teams of experts have been called to work on both AC and DC meters for connection through Low Power Instrument Transformers (LPIT), very interesting new equipment defined in another series of standards, the IEC 61869. Other ongoing activities are focusing on hot topics like dependability, cyber security and embedded software requirements.

KEMA Labs offers type testing to all different versions of the EN-IEC products standards and is notified body for the Measuring Instrument Directive (MID 2014/32/EU). On request, special national tests or tests per client instructions can be added. We are constantly developing our laboratories and skills to cope with the future.