On December 5  the conference on "Digital Water - Applied research for water services" took place at SMAT HQ in Turin. The event was the occasion to present the most significant research activities carried out by utilities, universities, research centers and industries in the field of applied research on water services.. Download the programme (Italian). 
During the event the "Water Academy", the high level training school of UTILITALIA and the newly created Water Research Award were also officially presented. 
The conference discussed the issues of research, innovation and development with a view on business opportunities and potential environmental benefits.
The SMAT Research Center along with leading companies of this specific sector, including Hera,Iren, Olivetti and Thales Alenia Space, took part to the conference. More information at www.smatorino.it.

​Last Tuesday, November 14, a delegation of experts and technicians from the Ethiopian Water Resources Development Fund (WRDF) participated in the workshop on “Industrial application of the SOFC system: the DEMOSOFC project", within the framework of the capacity development program currently conducted by Hydraoid with the WRDF. 
The workshop, organized at the Polytechnic of Turin, presented DEMOSOFC project, an initiative funded by the European Union in the framework of the Horizon 2020  program  aimed at producing high efficiency energy with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) by using biogas from waste water. The project is supported by a technical partnership  which includes the Polytechnic of Turin, the Imperial College of London,  SMAT (the Turin water utility which will implement  the prototype in Collegno's wastewater treatment plant in Turin), the Finnish start-up Convion and the Research Center of the same Scandinavian country VTT. 
The project has enabled the installation of the first European industrial-size fuel cell system in the SMAT plant of Collegno that can convert the sludge from the wastewater into clean and valuable energy, thanks to the high efficiency conversion of solid oxide fuel powered by biogas produced by the anaerobic digestion of sludge from the urban waste water. The project represents an important example of “circular economy”, which meets about 30% of the demand for electricity and more than 50% of the demand for heating of the plant.
 The workshop included a visit in the afternoon to the SMAT plant in Collegno where this innovative system is currently being implemented.