NATURGY AND MINSAIT WIN AN ENERTIC AWARD FOR THEIR “GREEN” SOLUTION TO PREVENT FIRES USING ARTIFICIAL VISION
Fire Detection, the winning proposal in the “Predictive Maintenance” category of the 2021 enerTIC Awards, is a system that applies Artificial Intelligence from the height of electrical towers to allow 360º surveillance for the early detection of fires in large forest masses. The solution is solar-powered, thus reducing CO2 emissions, and includes software to minimize consumption after each operation.
Spain, December 2, 2021 -- Minsait's solution for the early detection of wildfires that uses Visual Image Analysis and the IoT (Internet of Things), has won at the 9th enerTIC Awards in the “Predictive Maintenance” category. The project has seen the collaboration of Minsait (an Indra Company) and UFD (Naturgy group), Spain's third largest electric distribution company, with 3.8 million customers and over 70,000 miles of power lines.
The award acknowledges the commitment of UFD and Minsait in the field of innovative technological projects that prioritize environmental protection and the use of renewable energies.
Wildfire Detection leverages existing electrical towers and power lines as the support for the monitoring device, to provide 360º control of large forest areas and detect the early stages of wildfires with high reliability and is based on Minsait’s Onesait Phygital Edge platform. The system analyzes photographic images that are processed by means of edge computing capabilities, and sends alerts when an incipient fire is detected thus improving response time and optimizing the use of communication bandwidth.
The monitoring devices rely exclusively on solar photo-voltaic energy for their power needs, which is also stored to ensure 24/7 operations. They also feature a specific control software to minimize energy usage that puts the system in energy-saving mode between monitoring cycles.
The Artificial Intelligence algorithms perform the analysis of the images obtained by the cameras of the wildfire detection device to identify fire and smoke. Positive outcomes are then broadcast to the control center with the associated information of location and coordinates of the incipient fire.
The IoT sensors measure temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and atmospheric pressure, to restrict image capture when the meteorological conditions are incompatible with the risk of fires as well as to enhance their capture when there is a high fire risk. This avoids “false positives” and optimizes the use of stored energy.
Simple and scalable deployment
Each Fire Detection device is easily deployable with a circular vision range of 1.2 miles for the early detection of wildfires. It is therefore scalable and can also perform monitoring of electrical towers and power lines, assessing the integrity of infrastructures during and after extreme weather events and detecting the violation of security perimeters, such as substation and other limited-access facilities. Its application can also be considered for the continuous monitoring of wind speed in the survey of new locations for wind farms.
Fire Detection was selected among over 100 projects across all available categories, considering the following criteria: degree of applied innovation, usability of information and communication technologies, impact on the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
About UFD (Naturgy group)
UFD is the third-largest electricity distribution operator in Spain, with 3.8 million supply points and 72,000 miles of power lines. For years it has incorporated new technologies into its power grid to make them increasingly smart. The investments made by UFD in Spain over the past years have made the grid increasingly smart and able to provide digital services that improve quality of supply and are environmentally friendly, making UFD's network one of the most modern, competitive, and efficient of its kind in Europe.
About Minsait
Minsait (www.minsait.com), an Indra company, is a leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America. In USA, Minsait ACS is the operating subsidiary with over 250 client utilities. Minsait features a high degree of specialization and knowledge of the power sector, supported by their capability to integrate the physical and digital world, their leadership in innovation and digital transformation, and their flexible service model. Minsait focuses on high-impact value propositions, based on end-to-end solutions, with a remarkable degree of segmentation, to achieve tangible results for their customers in the sectors they operate in. Minsait's capabilities and leadership are demonstrated in the range of products and services under the brand Onesait.
About Indra
Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technological partner for core business operations of its customers world-wide. It is a world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in Transport and Defense markets, and a leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America through its affiliate Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive range of proprietary products, with a high-value, end-to-end focus and with a high innovation component. In the 2020 financial year, Indra achieved revenue totaling 3,043 billion euros, had nearly 48,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in over 140 countries.