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We have also realised our effect on our environment, by seeing the dramatic change when that influence is removed even for a short time. And we have paid close attention to vulnerabilities in the systems that we rely on to keep us healthy, comfortable and productive.
We are looking for new answers. Solutions that are resilient, which mix local and global, and which balance the economy with our social needs and with the environment.
This happens at a time when space technology is becoming available to us all on a day to day basis. Three quarters of us have a smartphone in our pockets – we carry a satellite receiver with us throughout the day. Images from space show what is happening around us. Signals from satellites locate us and connect us, whenever we can see the sky.
Space is a resource for everyday businesses. Start-up companies can now launch their own spacecraft! But you don’t need to be a space company to make use of all this technology. Satellites can guide decisions, enable automation, monitor, connect and inform, whatever we are doing. Even the International Space Station is now available for non-space businesses to use!
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
That’s you. That’s us. Space can help to answer your questions. Let us help you.
You’ll find us at ESA Space Solutions.
While the coronavirus continues to spread relentlessly to all parts of the world, businesses are analysing ways to prepare their responses to the post-COVID situation and increase their resilience. Not all sectors have been equally affected. Service sectors, including transport, travel, and tourism, have been hit the hardest as they have lost significant demand.
A commodity is a basic good, raw material or primary agricultural product like wheat, copper or cattle. Commodities are often the fundamental ingredients for more complex goods and services. They can generally be divided into three categories:
i. Agricultural Commodities, which include food crops, livestock and industrial crops (like lumber, rubber and wool).
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“Modern energy services are important in ensuring a satisfactory quality of life for people and promoting economic development, as well as issues such as security, climate change, food production, and strengthening economies while protecting ecosystems.” United Nations Foundations
Microgrids are distributed systems for load generation and localised distribution network. They can be an important and more cost-effective alternative to the extension of the main electric grid.
Many developing countries, however, have been unable to make the financial commitment to rural electrification – even though this is seen as critical in enabling the development path.
The ESA Space Solutions and IESA collaboration began with an open competitive tender for feasibility studies to assess the technical and economic viability of deploying services (based on satellite communications, earth observation data, and other space assets). These services were to support the planning and decentralised management of microgrids in India – as well as in other developing countries.
As result of this tender, three parallel contracts were awarded.
During the feasibility study, requirements from Indian microgrid stakeholders gathered by IESA were provided to the consortia who then proposed tailored space-based services.
According to Cristiano Cialone, Technical Officer at ESA, the use of Earth observation data can help to improve the design of microgrids by looking closely at the socio-economic factors of a specific area. Satellite communication is also relevant to support remote monitoring of microgrids located in rural areas, increasing monitoring efficiency, improved system performance and longer system life.
“Using satellite-derived information about site suitability leads to better decision-making by reducing project risks as well as the average project cost,” Cristiano Cialone, Technical Officer at ESA
Having successfully assessed the technical feasibility and economic viability of the service solutions, the three consortia worked with IESA to hone their respective roadmaps for implementation of the operational services.
“The feasibility study resulted in a positive conclusion on two value propositions delivered through services based on a combination of earth observation, satellite communications and energy modelling. The next step for Space4Microgrids is a demonstration project that will include microgrid planners and operators as users (launching customers) with potential participants Mlinda and Global Himalaya Expeditions,” Steven Braakman, NEO (NL)
“Working with ESA and IESA helped us to better understand market requirements and fine-tune Village Data Analytics’ technical solution; which we are now bringing to market. We are excited to announce that we have received significant private investment that allows us to plan a demonstration project with VIDA” says Dr. Tobias Engelmeier, Founder of TFE Energy. “The combination of high tech, provided by ESA, and deep, in-country market knowledge provided by IESA, is essential to future development and the achievement of the sustainable development goals.”
Ciro Lanzetta, Chief Technical Officer of i-EM said: “In the last few months, i-EM has engaged with relevant potential stakeholders – from both private and institutional domains – who are interested in the demonstration phase and potential commercial development.
“ESA support was extremely important in engaging with Indian players, making it easier for us to better understand the needs and requirements – and then to show the added value of our services to all stakeholders. We also realised the necessity of working in close cooperation with local entities to ensure the success of the activity.” Ciro Lanzetta, CTO, i-EM
Steven Braakman, Business Developer of NEO found the collaboration really useful in strengthening existing relations with the Indian market: “Liaising with IESA was a real head start. The best feedback on requirements was gathered during meetings and via direct contact with stakeholders already involved in other microgrid projects in India. ESA’s financial support was clearly an important element in the overall success.”
Rita Rinaldo, Head of the Institutional Project Section at ESA, added:
“We are enthusiastic about supporting companies in ESA Member States to reach out to export markets demonstrating the benefits of Space in support of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The collaboration with India Energy Storage Alliance and other international institutions are excellent examples of how this goal is achieved by enabling innovation solution providers to develop and show-case their solutions to the engaged user communities. This is one of the core objectives that we have set for the ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions programme”.
As a pioneer of rural microgrids since the 1990s, India has made significant progress towards achieving energy access for all. “IESA is grateful to the European Space Agency for partnering to help improve microgrids in India through role of space-based tools and satellite data. We are confident that energy storage and microgrids have the potential to transform not just India’s electric grid in next the 5-10 years, but also to help advance energy access challenges around the globe.” Dr Rahul Walawalkar, President, IESA.
“We are thrilled by the level of interest shown by global users and potential customers supporting demonstration and operational roll-out of these space-enabled services. This feedback is testament to the key role that space technology can play in supporting microgrid deployment and maintenance; as well as helping to deliver rural electrification at scale.” Davide Coppola, ESA
ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Transfer Brokers, and the ESA Business Applications programme.
Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early stage incubation programs, feasibility studies to large-scale demonstration projects.
