Opportunities to use satellite technologies for asset condition monitoring of power networks under the European Space Agency's Integrated Applications Promotion programme

Network operators in the UK have stated their intention to target network reliability through improved procedures for asset management. This involves having a better understanding of how an asset deteriorates over time and their current health. The availability of good quality data is essential to this process. At the distribution level the majority of asset condition data comes from inspection, sometimes coupled with a form of continuous condition monitoring. Both are relatively expensive, with inspection also being very personnel-intensive. Satellites provide a variety of enabling capabilities that are applicable across many sectors. They can potentially support the inspection process of many of the assets present within distribution and transmission networks. This study presents an overview of potential satellite applications within the power industry, with particular emphasis on how they can be used for asset inspection and monitoring. A workshop was organised by European Space Agency and the Power Networks Demonstration Centre with UK network operators as participants to further explore some of the potential applications. The main areas identified are briefly outlined in this study.