GMV NSL has been awarded the ESA co-funded activity named “SMARTGRIDS-DEMO”, which is supported by ESA Space Solutions through ESA ARTES BASS (Business Applications Space Solutions) Programme. It is a demonstration project, which builds on the outcome of the previous feasibility project, successfully completed in 2020.

The SMARTGRIDS-DEMO project aims to develop technically and financially feasible services that can assist energy-network stakeholders in their work practices. Earth Observation data, including satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence techniques, will be the key assets in the development of services that can help improve performance, reduce costs, and mitigate any problems that might arise from the management, maintenance, and operation of the energy-network infrastructure.

GMV NSL is developing this with the cooperation of ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) and nine Transmission System Operators across Europe that are actively involved in the pilot demonstration of three main services:

- Vegetation Management service, to support silvicultural activities and help users prevent vegetation encroachment in the rights of way (the land corridors immediately below and adjacent to the transmission towers and lines).

- Change Detection service, to identify human-induced events in the proximity of the network infrastructures.

- Disaster Management service, to provide fast analyses of Very High-Resolution imagery, with identification of any damage over a given location in response to a user's request, triggered by disaster events.

The project kicked off at the beginning of February. After refining the requirements through conversations with the users, the team is now developing the machine learning models.

Example of one of the products under development, i.e., a map showing the level of severity of vegetation height in the corridors