In an online awards programme held on 30 June 2020, over 200 participants watched REvivED water partner Phaesun receive The smarter E Award, in the category of Outstanding Project, for their work on the remote desalination systems across East Africa and India.
The smarter E Europe is an innovation hub for new energy solutions, dedicated to topics relevant to industries driving the clean energy transition. The smarter E Europe is an important facilitator of exhibitions, conferences, forums and workshops within the field of renewable systems. This award has raised the international profile of both Phaesun and REvivED water among a wide community of industry and research experts.
The jury on the award panel were particularly impressed by the cost-effectiveness and low maintenance involved in REvivED water’s novel systems delivering solar-powered electrodialysis for the desalination of brackish water in remote areas. They felt the REvivED water approach has demonstrated its high-impact and repeatability in rural areas lacking access to pure drinking water.
Asked about the importance of this work to areas such as East Africa or rural India, Phaesun project manager Florian Martini noted that “for rural areas where big desalination systems are not suitable, [the REvivED water] system perfectly fits in, since we combine the advantages of optic photovoltaics with the most efficient desalination technology, which is electrodialysis.”
Martini complimented the REvivED water partnership on how well each of the partners have worked together, noting that this system was the result of four years of hard work.
Responding to the host’s enquiry on future plans, Martini described how the success of the seven installed pilot systems has paved the way for further exploitation. Said Martini, “the next step is to bring them to market by establishing serious production of the systems”, making them available commercially, and eventually, globally.