.png)
The testbed for this approach was one of Europe’s largest steel plants, based in Dunkirk, France, producing seven million tonnes of steel annually. In early 2023, the site underwent a series of major operational changes: the permanent shutdown of Blast Furnace 1, and temporary outages across other furnaces.
Using SatVu’s thermal imaging capabilities, these changes were detected in detail - down to specific timestamps of when furnaces shut down and restarted - without relying on internal data or estimates.
This operational visibility added critical context to Floodlight’s analysis. By identifying precise windows of activity, Floodlight applied its atmospheric dispersion models to satellite data from NASA’s OCO-2 sensor - calculating monthly CO₂ outputs aligned with each operational change. The findings demonstrated a clear correlation between thermal profiles and emissions levels.
Between February 2023 and September 2024, thermal data captured by SatVu revealed a clear correlation between operational changes at the Dunkirk steel plant and emissions output. When all blast furnaces were active in February 2023, emissions peaked at 328,455 tonnes of CO₂. By June, with BF1 offline and BF4 temporarily paused, emissions dropped by over 50% to 161,663 tonnes. When BF4 resumed operations in September 2024 - while BF1 remained offline - emissions rose again to 230,905 tonnes. The analysis underscores how thermal signatures can provide precise, verifiable insight into industrial activity and its climate impact.
Thomas Cobti, VP Business Development, SatVu: “Industrial emissions reporting is undergoing a fundamental shift, what we’re offering isn’t just satellite imagery - it’s operational intelligence. If you want to verify decarbonisation claims at the asset level, you need to see what’s actually happening. That’s exactly what this collaboration proves.”
The implications go beyond a single site. This use case establishes a model that can align with fast-evolving regulatory frameworks, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and the Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation (IEPR). These policies mandate transparency and double materiality - meaning companies must report not just their climate impact, but how climate impacts their business. Independent, facility-specific data will be essential.
Nate Wyne, Co-founder and CEO of Floodlight, Inc: "What we've demonstrated at Dunkirk changes the game for industrial emissions tracking. Companies can no longer rely on estimates or self-reporting alone - independent satellite verification provides the transparency that regulators and investors are demanding."
SatVu’s high-resolution thermal imagery, capable of capturing day and night activity at 3.5m resolution with up to 20 daily revisits with our future constellation, offers cross-sector intelligence with wide-ranging impact. From monitoring blast furnaces and kilns in steel and cement production, to detecting flaring intensity and shutdowns in oil and gas operations, SatVu delivers near real-time visibility into critical infrastructure. The technology also supports power generation verification, carbon capture tracking, and the early detection of environmental risks such as leaks, equipment failures, and climate compliance gaps.
This technical collaboration demonstrates the value of thermal data as a decision-making tool. A single image can provide insight across emissions monitoring, operational continuity, and environmental risk - offering a trusted source of independent intelligence for organisations responding to climate, regulatory, and economic change.
Coming soon: A deeper dive into how SatVu and Floodlight are pioneering a new era of industrial emissions monitoring.
