Spain’S Hidroconta Reports Over 100,000 Smart Water Devices In First Recovery Plan Call

Spanish water meter company Hidroconta is delivering over 100,000 smart water devices in the first call in the PERTE (Plan for Economic Recovery and Transformation) programme.

While a full list of the 30 projects that were awarded funding in the first call in the programme, announced in November 2023, doesn’t appear to be available, recipients identified include the Cartagena water utility Hidrogea in southeast Spain and AquaOurense in the city of Ourense in northwest Spain among others in the broader Galicia community.

For example Hidrogea’s award is expected to deliver smart metering to approximately 70% of its domestic customers and to improve the cybersecurity of the network as part of the digitalisation of its water cycle.

In its digitalisation initiative, AquaOurense anticipates installing over 63,000 smart water meters among other activities.

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For these projects, Hidroconta reports providing its NB-IoT-based Centaurus smart meters, which transmit consumption data directly to its cloud-based Demeter platform, and its IRIS data communications modules that can be retrofitted to ‘smarten’ meters.

“These PERTE projects are just the beginning of a series of initiatives in which Hidroconta is contributing to the digital transformation of the water cycle,” according to a company statement.

“Development and innovation are key factors in providing solutions that help optimise such a vital resource as water, improving distribution efficiency and enabling more sustainable management.”

The Spanish government introduced the PERTE programme in 2021 to boost the economy in the wake of the Covid shutdown.

The digitalisation of the urban water cycle was identified as one of 12 strategic projects identified for support with an initial €200 million ($219 million) budget.

Typical project support ranges up to around €10 million, amounting to between two-thirds and three-quarters of the total project cost.

Following the first call, a second call for projects was made in October 2023, with 50 projects being awarded funding from a €300 million budget.

In this, Hidrogea was again a recipient of funding, this time in partnership with Aguas de Murcia for a project to modernise the water infrastructures in the municipalities of Abanilla, Alcantarilla and Murcia.

The third call was launched in January 2025 with an initial €50 million, with the possibility of a €100 million extension.

In addition, there have been two project calls for the digitalisation of irrigation, with 125 projects identified in the first call in 2024 and a second call currently being resolved following its closure in January 2025.