EN50160 Evaluation and Recording
EN50160 Background
The EN50160 European standard “Voltage characteristics of
electricity supplied by public distribution systems” issued by
CENELEC defines the main physical characteristics of electric
energy supplied by low and medium voltage public distribution
systems under normal operating conditions.
The voltage characteristics are evaluated using a statistical
approach. The standard and its referenced publications
specify for each voltage characteristic:
- Method of evaluation
- Integrating interval for a single measurement
- Observation period
- Statistical indication of the probability of not exceeding a specified limit
- Standard compliance limits or indicative values within which any
customer can expect the voltage characteristics to remain
Compliance Limits
For some voltage characteristics, the standard provides
definite limits that can be complied with for most of the time
considering the possibility of relatively rare excursions beyond
these limits. Limits are set with a view to compliance for a
percentage of the observation time, e.g. 95% of the
observations in any period of one week.
The following table gives the characteristics for which definite
limits have been specified by the standard.
Indicatives Values
For the remaining characteristics of the voltage, by their
unpredictable nature, the standard gives only indicative
values, which are intended to provide users with information
on the order of magnitude which can be expected.
The following table gives the characteristics for which
indicative values have been specified by the standard.