SmaCuMed – Smart Irrigation Cube for Sustainable Agriculture

We are proud to highlight that our spinoff team is a key contributor in the SmaCuMed project, a collaborative research initiative funded under the European Union’s EU-PRIMA programme focused on innovative solutions for food systems and water resources in the Mediterranean region. SmaCuMed (“Smart irrigation cube for sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean region”) brings together partners from North-African and European institutions to develop an integrated, energy-autonomous Smart Cube system for sustainable irrigation. The Smart Cube combines advanced desalination technologies (membrane capacitive deionization and low-pressure reverse osmosis) with smart sensor-controlled irrigation, addressing water scarcity and supporting sustainable agriculture in remote areas. Our involvement encompasses technological development, pilot implementation, and stakeholder engagement to ensure robust, cost-effective and scalable impact of the Smart Cube for irrigation of crops such as date palms, olives, and argan trees under challenging environmental conditions. Contact us for the Smart Cube solution.

Our projects

SuLaMo – Sustainable Land Management Innovation

We are proud to highlight our involvement in the SuLaMo project, a collaborative research initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the CLIENT II programme that focuses on innovative, sustainable land and water management for agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions, using Morocco as a living laboratory. SuLaMo (“Sustainable Land Management in Morocco”) brings together an international consortium of research institutions, technology partners, and field practitioners to develop and demonstrate integrated solutions that improve crop productivity while drastically reducing water use. The project combines advanced water-saving techniques such as subsurface drip irrigation and mulching with autonomous energy supplies, real-time sensor systems, and energy-efficient capacitive deionisation for desalination, along with socio-economic studies and on-site capacity building. Field demonstrations across multiple Moroccan sites showcase how these technologies and practices enhance resilience, efficiency, and sustainability in challenging agricultural environments — a mission we are actively supporting through our technical expertise and collaborative engagement.

SophiA – Sustainable Off-Grid Solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in Africa

We are proud to be a contributing partner in the SophiA project (“Sustainable Off-Grid Solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in Africa”), an EU-funded initiative under Horizon2020 that develops modular, solar-powered containerised systems to deliver reliable off-grid energy and safe, clean water to rural and remote health facilities across Africa. SophiA integrates advanced renewable-energy technologies with smart water treatment to produce hygienically safe drinking water and de-mineralised water for medical use. In this context, our team was instrumental in the design, integration, and implementation of the SophiA water container, specifically tailoring and deploying the membrane capacitive deionisation (MCDI) and ultrafiltration (UF) subsystems that ensure high-quality water performance under challenging field conditions. These solutions support resilient healthcare delivery and exemplify our expertise in cutting-edge water-energy systems for sustainable development.

WaKap - Water desalination with capacitive deionisation

The joint research project WaKap „Modular concept for sustainable desalination using capacitive deionization on the example of Vietnam – WaKap“ was a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the program WavE. Many countries in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar have imminent water problems as its water supply is increasingly threatened by climate change and high arsenic concentrations in groundwater. Arsenic is a highly poisonous, naturally occuring substance sometimes found in groundwater. In WaKap the modular integration of MCDI with low-pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) and sub-surface arsenic removal (SAR) was investigated for the treatment of arsenic laden groundwater and the desalination of brackish river water in the Mekong-Delta, South Vietnam. Here, the applicability of MCDI technology in modular systems was proven effective showcasing its energy efficiency, advantages of its combination with solar-photovoltaic PV, and the opportunities for decentralized applications in remote areas. This project was the first milestone of our applied R&D and became the beginning of Dion+ idea.