New international project EnFiCab

On 15 May 2025, a new international project entitled "Environmentally Responsible and Low Fire-hazard Polymer Composites for Cable Insulations (EnFiCab)" was officially launched, which will also be carried out at EIMV. The project was the only one in its category to suceed among 34 proposals from across Europe in the M-ERA.NET 2024 call for proposals.

The aim of the project is to develop a fire-safer and more environmentally friendly insulation material with improved long-term stability and compliance with industry standards. Optimizing the composition will reduce the risk of fire failure and enable wider use of LFHC cables in infrastructure with high safety requirements, such as tunnels, high-rise buildings, etc. The project will develop an advanced composite based on polyethylene and halogen-free flame retardants (such as metal hydroxides and clay minerals) for the insulation of low-fire-hazard cables (LFHC).

The Slovenian part of the project is led by Dr Barbara Horvat, and the kick-off meeting was attended by Dr Simon Podkoritnik and Dr Aljaž Špelko. The event was organized by the project coordinator, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of West Bohemia, Plzen, Czech Republic, in cooperation with the Polymer Institute SAS from Slovakia, which is a partner in the project together with EIMV.

The project is co-financed by national agencies: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Slovenia (MVZI).