Why is MID compliance important?
If you’re responsible for billing and sub-billing in residential, commercial or industrial settings, you need to be MID compliant. All meters installed in applications that require billing and sub-billing according to actual energy consumption must comply with the Measuring Instrument Directive (MID) in Europe – whether for direct billing or sub-billing applications such as co-located data centres or stores within malls or airports.
Ensuring a high level of metrological security
The Measuring Instrument Directive is an EU directive of the European Parliament and Council of 26 February 2014 (2014/32/EU) that applies to measuring instruments such as water, gas, electrical energy, thermal energy, as well as weights or quantities of liquids meters used in commercial transactions. A specific annexe of the directive (MI-003) is dedicated to active electrical energy meters (kWh).
The MID sets out a legal framework to ensure consumer protection and fair trading, stipulating that measuring instruments must be assessed via a notified body. The design and manufacture of a MID certified measuring instrument must be of a high standard for metrology and measurement data security – but the main objective of MID is to ensure that all parties involved have confidence in the measurement result.
Michael Lonsdale, Socomec comments; “Conformity assessments of measuring instruments are carried out by a notified body. Electricity meters, for example, might typically be evaluated in terms of product design and production process quality assurance."
“EN 50470-1 and EN 50470-3 provide a presumption of conformity to the MID. They define the requirements in terms of mechanics, electromagnetic compatibility and accuracy. A product designed in accordance with these standards will meet the essential and specific requirements of the MID. The notified body uses these standards and the directive to verify the conformity of the meters. The accuracy of the active energy measured by the meter is defined as Class A, B or C.”
MID certified measuring instruments that set a new industry reference
The DIRIS Digiware I-30MID, I-35MID, I-60MID, I-61MID, S-130MID and S-135MID meters are now available as a MID version, making the DIRIS Digiware system the first multi-point measurement system on the market to be suitable for billing and sub-billing applications.
Socomec’s range of MID certified measuring instruments have been designed for applications where metering is carried out either as a direct connection or through current sensors or transformers.
These include traditional meters in a modular format – COUNTIS – that allow the measurement of active energy from one load. In addition, DIRIS Digiware S-13xMID, I-3xMID and I-6xMID meters are Class C certified meters, ideally suited to accurately measure the consumption of multiple electrical loads. A single display simplifies the reading of all measurements.
To ensure system integrity and unprecedented measurement accuracy, DIRIS Digiware MID meters are equipped with innovative features that go beyond conventional market practice.
Michael continues; “We understand how crucial it is that these measurements are accurate – and that all parties have complete trust in the integrity of the data. Our DIRIS Digiware MID meters incorporate really innovative tamper-proof devices, comprising an intelligent alarm system that is more effective than the conventional seals offered by traditional MID meters.”
DIRIS Digiware MID meters have a measurement accuracy of class C according to the MID directive, which is the most accurate class.
