Objectives of the service
Our ImpactMaps AI Solution opens up completely new perspectives for regional analysis in geoanalytics.
The solution can be used to identify and tap into the potential of developing regions particularly efficiently, for example:
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Identification of abandoned raw material mines, environmental burdens, and their remediation
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Use of solar energy: finding the best spots, automated quantification of investment volume and ROI
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New uses for contaminated sites, e.g., energy crops to combat erosion, for mobile communications, and logistics.
Users and their needs
In addition to the stakeholders and users of the solution originally identified, such as public authorities (the Nigerian government and regional administration in Plateau State/Nigeria, investors in solar energy, the University of Jos/Nigeria), other interested industrial partners from the energy storage and telecommunications sectors have since been recruited. It has also become apparent that the data can be used for tourism platforms, ideal for adventure tourism, virtual reality projects, or historical tours, as well as for companies that want to reactivate abandoned mining sites.
Service/ system concept
Our solution offers extensive analytical tools that not only identify abandoned mines, but also automatically perform an economic assessment. This greatly simplifies the work involved in calculating the return on investment for sites and immediately determines their attractiveness for investors. The information provided for each individual abandoned mining site is:
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Size of the plant and specifications
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Exact location
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Population
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Details on the grid infrastructure
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Solar potential
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Economic analysis
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Total investment costs (plant, grid, and substation)
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Economic efficiency ranking (index)
Space Added Value
We use different approaches for our analyses and presentations.
Geoanalytics: Sentinel satellite images were primarily used, which were compared with each other over longer periods of time. However, the main advantage of our solution is that only the resolution necessary for the respective purpose is used and this is supplemented by our AI metrics. This makes our solution significantly more attractive in terms of price and transferability on national scale than other companies that only use high-resolution images and thus achieve only similar rates of success in identifying abandoned mining sites.
User interface: Google Maps
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Commercial providers: Google obtains many of its satellite images from companies such as Maxar Technologies (formerly DigitalGlobe), GeoIQ, CNES/Airbus, and Planet Labs. These companies operate their own satellite fleets and sell high-resolution images.
Government sources: In some cases, Google also uses publicly available data from NASA, ESA, or USGS (e.g., Landsat program).
Current Status
The following section presents the results of our analyses:
The project is largely complete. We are currently working on minor optimizations that will further improve usability for customers and market acceptance.
The solution was presented by the project team in Nigeria to government representatives, abandoned mines were visited, and discussions were held with local press representatives and investors. The visit generated significant media coverage.
The solution is already attracting considerable interest from the public sector in Nigeria, i.e., both the Ministry of Solid Minerals and the regional government in Plateau State. In addition, other interested parties from the photovoltaic industry and investors from the sector, as well as manufacturers of batteries and cooling units, have also shown interest.
We are already planning the next project phases and the presentation of the solution in Nigeria's neighbouring countries and to build up a Joint Venture in Nigeria (“ImpactMaps Nigeria”).
Prime Contractor(s)
