Space-based development risk service for utilities to launch in UK

Geospatial technology company MGISS is launching the Interruption Prevention Alert Service (IPAS) for gas and water utilities.

The aim of the service is to identify and locate development risks within close proximity to critical utility assets and thereby help to minimise disruptions to gas or water supplies.

The €1 million (US$1.1 million) project is supported by European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency and will run for an initial two years to test its technical and commercial viability and to develop a market plan.

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Partners include Geospatial Insight as the data partner and Northumbrian Water Group and Northern Gas Networks as the respective water and gas suppliers.

Michael Darracott, managing director at MGISS, said there has been a significant amount of interest from operators within the water and gas sectors.

“I’m looking forward to working with our partners to promote the value of capturing, using, maintaining, and leveraging accurate and reliable geospatial data. We envisage wider potential in other sectors of the UK and global economies.”

Liverpool-based MGISS works across multiple infrastructure sectors, including utilities, and for example has undertaken several projects with UK water utilities, including Severn Trent and Northumbrian Water on the management of their assets.

In the new project the company aims to develop a preventive solution using satellite data and services to automatically detect changes to the built environment – a need that appears to be gathering momentum with the need for new housing in the UK.

The solution is also expected to deliver added value to utility suppliers, including cost savings and a reduction in carbon emissions.

Clive Surman-Wells, innovation partnerships manager at Northumbrian Water Group, said that building works on or near the strategic mains pose a very real threat to the resilience of water supply to customers.

“It’s very challenging to detect and intervene early because our network covers such a huge geographical area. The project offers an ‘eye-in-the-sky’ solution, leveraging satellite data and combining it with our own asset data records to proactively identify risks sooner.”

The water company anticipates that an initial test area will be in Essex and Suffolk Water distribution zone, with expansion in all of its regions by 2024.

As part of its business to advance the use of space data, ESA Space Solutions has launched its latest call for proposals for the development of space-based communication, navigation and/or earth observation services to support the digital transformation of the energy utilities sector.