DEWA’s R&D Centre highlights how Space-D programme can improve electricity and water networks

Experts at the Research and Development (R&D) Centre of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) have highlighted the most prominent use cases of DEWA’s Space-D programme, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on 12 January 2021.

As part of the ‘Research in Spotlight’ series, researchers provided DEWA’s employees an overview of the programme's objectives and its key role in building DEWA’s capabilities and training Emirati professionals to use space technologies to enhance its electricity and water networks. The programme takes advantage of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to exchange information with the help of satellite communications and earth observation technologies.

DEWA employees learnt about how the R&D Centre’s latest innovation, as part of the Space-D programme, could be leveraged in electricity and water networks to carry out condition-based assessments of distribution transformers, monitor and conduct pre-fault detection at secondary substations, enhance distribution network visibility and fault detection, improve planning at generation and desalination plants, and detect water leaks.

Such innovation also improves data collection and monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants and electric vehicle charging stations, PV solar forecasting and fog detection for improved transmission operation planning, and transmission line patrolling and infrastructure change detection.

The Space-D programme enhances the performance and efficiency of PV solar panels at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world.

Nanosatellites

As part of its Space-D programme, DEWA successfully launched two nanosatellites manufactured by Emiratis at the R&D Centre. The programme features a ground station at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, as well as IoT and AI technologies to support ground communication transmission stations within electricity and water networks. By deploying this infrastructure, DEWA seeks to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its planning and operations, and enhance maintenance within its production, transmission and distribution divisions, as well as improve its smart grids and electric vehicle charging stations. Multi-spectrum, high-resolution devices such as those used on-board spacecraft, specifically designed for use in electricity and water networks, have been deployed to provide thermal imaging of high-voltage transmission lines, substations, buildings and solar power stations. DEWA’s R&D team has been developing the knowledge and experience to understand the effectiveness and value of IoT nanosatellite constellations in supporting utilities to improve the management of their power grid and water transmission and distribution networks.

DEWA SAT-1

In January 2022, DEWA launched its first nanosatellite, DEWA SAT-1, a 3U nanosatellite, to test the ability to receive data from distributed assets in areas with limited terrestrial connectivity, using direct-to-satellite long-range (LoRa) communication from custom-designed IoT terminals. Applications include substation condition monitoring, weather station integration and water transmission line surveillance. The data collected is aggregated and presented on custom-designed dashboards.

DEWA SAT-2

In April 2023, DEWA launched its second nanosatellite, DEWA SAT-2, to provide high-resolution imagery and greenhouse gas measurements for remote sensing. The nanosatellite is used to monitor seawater temperature and salinity, detect oil spills and red tides near water desalination intakes, carry out fog estimation and forecasting, and track the progress of assets under construction. These insights are delivered to DEWA's operations team via a dedicated Space-D portal.

The Space-D programme also designs, builds and tests IoT terminals with specific features for utility use cases and for effective communication with nanosatellites. The R&D Centre develops on-board satellite receivers to communicate with IoT terminals, as well as edge analytics applications to predict faults and carry out an analysis of power quality on low-voltage (LV) network feeders. The centre also selects sensor and measurement technology suitable for IoT applications, and provides high temporal and spatial resolution imagers with high spectral bands, as well as data and image storage, processing and analytics using DEWA’s private cloud. The nanosatellites are controlled and operated from the ground station located at the R&D Centre.