European research projects

The Metrology department has been very active in the context of EU research projects since 2008, when we and other national metrology institutes joined forces in research in the field of power and energy for the first time.

In addition to the continuous internal development of metrological methods in support of the Slovenian economy to provide the traceability of measurements, our research team regularly applies to international European research projects.

Previously, national metrology institutes dealt with research in the field of metrology by themselves, with their own assets and personnel. Soon after 2000, the idea of combining research powers emerged. Thus, in 2007, the pilot project was launched called the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) iMERA+, where several NMIs joined forces in conducting research. Even then, we joined the research within the scope of the Power & Energy project, and our participation was very successful. Within the project, frequency-independent coaxial current shunts were developed, which are essential for measuring the quality of electrical power. The shunts made at SIQ achieved the best results. They are currently used in seven countries around the world. Since the experimental project was so successful, the EMRP research projects continued in the subsequent five years.
In this period, #SIQ participated in the following projects: SmartGrids, Harvesting, Electromagnetic Characterisation of Materials for Industrial Applications up to Microwave Frequencies (EMINDA), Quantum Standard for Sampled Electrical Measurements (Q-Wave), Advanced EMC Test Methods in Industrial Environments (EMC) and SmartGrids II.
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Due to the success of the EMRP programme, the European Commission continued to co-finance metrology research with the seven-year European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR). Within this programme, we also participated in three projects, namely the more accessible use of AC quantum voltage etalons (ACQ PRO), traceability routes for electrical power quality measurements (Trace PQM) and the development of metrology capacities in the field of RF and microwaves (RF Microwave). All three projects were launched to transfer knowledge between laboratories and, consequently, to bring the knowledge of small laboratories to a higher level.
A seven-year research project programme – European Partnership on Metrology (EPM) – is currently underway in the EU, which, after completion, will lead to the establishment of centres, the so-called European Metrology Networks (EMNs), where interested national metrology institutes (NMIs) and laboratories will combine knowledge and capacities in offering metrology solutions through a single entry point to all interested users. SIQ is already included in the Smart Grid Centre.
We were successful in the applications already in the first year of the EPM. This time, we will cooperate in developing metrology starting points for standardisation, namely in the projects Metrology for Digital Measuring Stations in the Electricity System (Digital-IT) and Metrology for Emerging EMC Standards (EMC-STD).