DEWA’s R&D Centre wins Best Paper Award at EECCIS 2024 in Indonesia

In a significant global achievement, the Research and Development (R&D) Centre of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has won the Best Paper Award at the Electrical Power, Electronics, Communications, Control and Informatics Seminar (EECCIS) in Indonesia. The event was organised by Universitas Brawijaya and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. The R&D Centre received this prestigious award for its paper titled ‘IoT-Enabled Power Quality Monitoring in Substations through LoRa LEO Satellite Communication’, an initiative that is part of DEWA’s space programme, Space-D.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, praised the pioneering efforts of Emirati professionals at DEWA’s R&D Centre as they employ innovation to explore new prospects in scientific research, develop sustainable applied solutions and enrich the scientific community in the UAE and globally.

“Through the Space-D programme, we aim to leverage nanosatellite technology to complement terrestrial Internet of Things (IoT) communication networks. This supports the digitisation of our electricity and water networks, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. This new achievement reflects the R&D Centre’s leadership in space research and its excellence in leveraging the disruptive technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT, to improve DEWA’s operations,” said Al Tayer.

The centre’s researchers published the paper as part of their work under the Space-D programme, with the aim of enhancing satellite communication capabilities for various applications. The research utilises Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, including IoT, to collect and analyse data, improve the efficiency and resilience of network management and operations, and enhance control and quality monitoring of DEWA's energy and water infrastructure This research aligns with the Omnihub IoT terminal, one of the leading in-house research projects developed as part of DEWA’s Space-D programme, to connect terrestrial sensors to satellites and ground networks. The terminal, including its 3D-printed enclosure, was fully designed and manufactured at the R&D Centre.

DEWA is the world’s first utility to launch and operate its own fleet of nanosatellites to improve the operation, maintenance and planning of electricity and water networks. As part of its Space-D programme, DEWA launched DEWA SAT-1, a 3U nanosatellite, in January 2022, and DEWA SAT-2, a 6U nanosatellite, in April 2023.