emirates7 - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) 's Research & Development (R&D) Centre, in collaboration with Infra X, the IT and telecommunications arm of Digital DEWA, and their British technical partner Wyld, has developed satellite Internet of Things (IoT) terminals for DEWA's 3U nanosatellite, DEWA-SAT1.

DEWA launched it as part of its Space-D programme and became the first utility worldwide to use nanosatellites to improve the operations, maintenance, and planning, of electricity and water networks.

The centre developed the satellite IoT terminals to connect DEWA's assets to the satellite directly and be suitable for grid applications, where it links IoT sensors to DEWA's nanosatellites. It also provides hybrid connectivity with both the Long-Range (LoRa) IoT terrestrial network operated by InfraX, and DEWA's nanosatellites.

This will expand the coverage of DEWA's existing LoRA IoT Terrestrial network, which connects remote assets directly with the nanosatellite, without the need for ground gateways or satellite ground stations to send the data.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, praised the efforts of researchers at the R&D Centre, their success in innovating advanced technologies, and their developing use cases (the developed solutions for DEWA's service units) using Satellite IoT technology. Al Tayer said the importance of the role of research and researchers in developing niche use cases applies to electricity and water production, as well as transmission and distribution systems. This improves the management of the power grid and water transmission and distribution networks.

"Through the Space-D programme, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2021, nanosatellite technology will complement the terrestrial IoT communication network to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of DEWA's operations and support the digitisation of our electricity and water networks. By the end of 2022, we plan to launch a 6U nanosatellite with customised high-resolution image sensing technology specifically designed for DEWA to capture images more frequently," added Al Tayer.

"The R&D Centre designed the satellite LoRa IoT terminals to be capable of communicating using Infra-X LoRa terrestrial and LoRa Space-D satellite communication networks. With this, Infra-X can offer extended communication coverage to their customers, including DEWA, to assets in remote locations with no terrestrial coverage," said Dr Ali Rashid AlAleeli, Vice President R&D, Business Development and Excellence at DEWA.

Once the satellite constellation is in operation, data collection from remote assets can be collected at a fraction of the cost and time to extend the terrestrial network coverage.