Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that its nanosatellite, DEWA-SAT 1, has transmitted 2,690 megabytes (MB) of data related to DEWA’s work to the ground station since launch in January 2022.
DEWA SAT-1, a 3U nanosatellite, enables direct communication via its onboard Internet of Things (IoT) system, utilising LoRa (long-range), low-power wireless connection technology. It ensures data security through DEWA’s encryption standards.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, highlighted that DEWA continues its efforts to leverage the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to develop smart and sustainable infrastructure.
He noted that the Space-D programme aims to make nanosatellites a complementary technology to the ground-based IoT communications network for remote asset monitoring. This supports the digitalisation of power and water networks and enhances planning, operations and preventative maintenance for the generation, distribution and transmission divisions.
Additionally, the programme helps to reduce costs, maximising the return of investment from DEWA’s assets. It contributes to knowledge sharing and in the training of DEWA’s Emirati workforce.
Al Tayer explained that DEWA DEWA’s space programme Space-D aims to enhance the efficiency of electricity and water networks using nanosatellite and remote-sensing technologies. DEWA is the first utility worldwide to use nanosatellites to improve the operations, maintenance and planning of electricity and water networks, enhancing operational efficiency and improving the efficiency of DEWA’s asset operations.
The nanosatellites provide DEWA with compete control over data via the ground station at DEWA’s Research and Development (R&D) Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The station is managed by skilled Emirati operators with advanced training. As part of its Space-D programme, DEWA launched two nanosatellites – DEWA SAT-1 in January 2022 and DEWA SAT-2 in April 2023.
The nanosatellite has been applied to monitor DEWA’s assets in various ways, such as tracking power factor and frequency in low-voltage rooms; monitoring water pipelines for temperature, pressure and flow to detect anomalies; measuring weather conditions like air temperature, humidity and air quality; and collecting power quality data from remote substations. In collaboration with DEWA’s partners, seven research papers have been published, detailing use cases for DEWA SAT-1 and advancing the knowledge of direct-to-satellite communications using LoRa protocols.
