Dubai to Use Satellite IoT Terminals for Utilities Industry

Dubai’s Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is collaborating with Infra X, the IT and telecommunications arm of Digital DEWA, and its British technical partner Wyld to establish IoT satellite terminals to help streamline operations and maintenance efforts. 

The project comes under DEWA’s Space-D programme and will connect DEWA’s water and electricity assets to nano-satellites to link them to the grid and send data to DEWA about any potential maintenance issues. Features of the satellite service also include thermal imaging to identify high voltage transmission lines, substations and solar power stations. 

According to DEWA, the Space-D program aims to “use space technologies to enhance its electricity and water networks,” incorporating technologies including IoT, AI and remote sensing capabilities. The program will also establish hybrid connectivity with both the Long-Range (LoRa) IoT terrestrial network operated by InfraX, and DEWA’s nanosatellites. 

“Through the Space-D programme, we intend nanosatellite technology to complement the terrestrial IoT communication network to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of DEWA’s operations and support the digitization of our electricity and water networks,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO of DEWA.

He added that by the end of the year DEWA plans to launch a 6U nanosatellite with customized high-resolution image sensing technology to be specifically designed for DEWA to communicate with its IoT terminals.

“The project includes applications to collect and analyze data. multi-spectrum, high-resolution thermal imaging devices such as those used on board spacecraft,” he said. 

The news comes as the authority also registered a new patent for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle charging systems, a move similarly intended to help improve maintenance efforts at operations by allowing for remote monitoring capabilities.