Developing a satellite-enabled digital twin ecosystem framework for energy monitoring in smart cities in Sri Lanka: a literature review

Abstract

Smart cities are at the forefront of sustainable urban development, yet energy monitoring remains a critical challenge for achieving efficiency and environmental goals. Current technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) and building management systems, often lack the city-wide perspective needed for comprehensive energy optimization. Similarly in Sri Lanka, energy consumption in smart cities presents a complex challenge, as urban areas account for a significant portion of global energy demand and contribute heavily to carbon emissions. Hence, effective real time energy monitoring is essential to enhance energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in smart cities. Among emerging technologies, the satellite-enabled digital twin ecosystem (SEDTE), powered by real-time satellite data, offers a transformative approach to energy monitoring. This study aimed proposing a satellite-enabled digital twin ecosystems (SEDTE) to enhance energy monitoring in smart cities in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, key peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and reports published on satellite technology, digital twins, smart cities, energy monitoring and energy efficiency between 2015 and 2025 were comprehensively reviewed. As derived through literature review, data acquisition, real-time energy optimization, grid resilience, load balancing, demand response, renewable energy integration, and disaster preparedness of energy systems are the key applications of SEDTE in the context of smart city energy monitoring. Finally, a framework was proposed to adopt this advanced technology in the development of smart cities in Sri Lanka and similar settings as the key implication of the study.