AGUAS DO TEJO ATLANTICO SA

Their core work

Águas do Tejo Atlântico is a large Portuguese water utility serving the Lisbon metropolitan area, responsible for wastewater treatment and water management infrastructure. In H2020 projects, they contribute as a real-world demonstration site and end-user for smart water technologies, urban resilience solutions, and resource recovery from wastewater. Their value lies in providing operational infrastructure and real consumption data at metropolitan scale, making them a key validation partner for water innovation projects across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 involvement (2016-2019) focused on physical infrastructure challenges — climate resilience for urban systems (RESCCUE), bio-waste resource recovery (RES URBIS), and energy grid integration (InteGrid). Their most recent project, B-WaterSmart (2020-2024), marks a clear shift toward digitalization: smart data solutions, water governance, living labs, and community engagement. This mirrors the broader water sector's digital transformation, moving from hardware-driven projects to data-driven, citizen-inclusive smart water management.

They are moving from being a passive infrastructure host toward becoming an active player in digital water management and participatory governance, making them increasingly relevant for smart city and water-data projects.

How they like to work

Águas do Tejo Atlântico participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as an infrastructure provider and demonstration site rather than a research leader. With 101 unique partners across 18 countries in just 4 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia (averaging 25+ partners per project). This makes them experienced in multi-partner collaboration and well-connected, but they rely on research institutions to drive the scientific agenda.

With 101 consortium partners across 18 countries from just 4 projects, they have built a surprisingly broad European network for a utility company. Their connections span Southern, Western, and Northern Europe, reflecting the pan-European nature of water innovation consortia.

What sets them apart

As the wastewater utility for Greater Lisbon — one of Europe's major coastal metropolitan areas — they offer a unique demonstration environment combining high population density, coastal climate challenges, and Mediterranean water stress. Unlike research institutions, they bring real operational data, actual infrastructure, and millions of end-users to any project. For consortium builders, they are the kind of partner that turns a research concept into a validated, real-world proof of concept.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InteGrid
  Their largest project (EUR 513K) and their only energy-sector involvement, demonstrating the water-energy nexus through intelligent grid integration with renewables.
• B-WaterSmart
  Their most recent and strategically significant project, signaling their shift toward digital water management, living labs, and circular economy in coastal cities.
• RESCCUE
  Their first H2020 project, establishing their role as a climate resilience demonstration site for urban water infrastructure.