Startup Challenge: Street lighting and cabling detection

The Imagery platform, developed by Concert Technologies S. A., aims to digitally transform the activities undertaken in visually inspecting the distribution network and electric power transmission lines. Through remote sensing technologies, such as satellite, RGB cameras, LiDAR sensors, and digital image processing techniques such as artificial intelligence, the platform quickly delivers data for decision-making, thus increasing the operational efficiency of the electric power companies. Concert Technologies S. A. is a technology-based company with more than 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for the electricity sector.

Iberdrola group — through its Networks subsidiary and its International Startup Programme - PERSEO — launched last February the Startup Challenge: Street Lighting and Cabling Detection, an international call for companies from all over the world to present solutions to autonomously detect and validate public lighting points and cabling that are not recorded in the company's database.

What is the purpose of this initiative?

Street lighting accounts for around 15 % of the energy identified in Iberdrola's plan to reduce network losses in Brazil. In some cases, even before a new allotment, light bulbs are already installed without being registered in the maintenance database.

Likewise, telephone and pay-TV cables from telecommunications operators are installed by default on the distributor's posts without the distributor receiving the appropriate sharing fees.

This situation is recurrent in Brazil, particularly in the states of Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte, which is why we are looking for solutions to help us to update the database regularly and quickly by means of computer software, in order to improve infrastructure maintenance and reduce network energy losses.

What requirements should the proposed solutions meet?

• The detection method should use external databases, as well as data and georeferencing of the company's street lights.

• The images or data used for identification must be updated regularly.

• The process must be automatic and work with hardly any human intervention.

• It must meet criteria of efficiency, serviceability, scalability and reproducibility.

Benefits for participants

 Pilot project

Iberdrola will bear the costs and will give the winner of the challenge technical support to test their solution on installations pertaining to the Network subsidiary, providing access to the necessary resources to evaluate it (equipment, teams, infrastructure, high-tech positioning, co-working areas, etc.).

 New clients and investors

If the pilot is successful, the company will incorporate the solution into its portfolio of suppliers to improve the operability and maintenance of its databases. Perseo may also consider investing in the project.

 Business scalability

The winning technology could be scalable to other business areas in the group and other network assets.

The deadline for registration was between January and February  2022. The winner was announced in April 2022 and the pilot project started at May/June 2020.