Imagine a water wheel sitting in an irrigation canal that uses the canal's own current to push water up to your fields — no electricity, no diesel, no fuel bill. That's essentially what aQysta built: a spiral pump called HyPump that converts flowing water energy into pumping pressure. Farmers drop it into an existing canal, and it delivers pressurized water to their crops around the clock for free. The project took this from a validated concept to full field demonstrations across real farming sites.
Irrigated farming depends heavily on pumping water from canals to fields, and energy costs for this pumping can account for up to 40% of total irrigation costs. Rising energy tariffs have nearly doubled these bills, squeezing farm profitability. Farmers need a way to pump water without the ongoing expense and environmental burden of electricity or diesel fuel.
aQysta built the HyPump — an industrial spiral pump that sits in an irrigation canal and uses the water's own flow to generate pumping pressure, delivering water to fields without any fuel or electricity. The project completed field demonstrations with multiple units installed in real farming environments.
If you are a farming cooperative dealing with energy bills that eat up to 40% of your total irrigation costs — this project developed the HyPump, a canal-powered spiral pump that delivers up to 75% savings on overall irrigation system costs compared to electric or fuel-driven pumps, with annual net savings of 5k€-8k€ per hectare.
If you are a water infrastructure company looking to modernize aging pump stations without adding grid capacity — HyPump runs entirely on canal flow energy with zero electricity or fuel consumption. It was field-tested on real canals and offers a payback time of 2.5-4 years when replacing electric or fuel-operated systems.
If you are a solar pump distributor facing price competition and maintenance complaints — HyPump demonstrated up to 37% savings compared to solar pumps, with no panels, batteries, or inverters to maintain. It was industrialized and field-demonstrated during this EU-funded Phase 2 project.
The project's Cost Benefit Analysis estimated annual net savings of 5k€-8k€ per hectare compared to electric pumping. Payback time when switching from electric or fuel-operated systems is estimated at 2.5-4 years. Contact the coordinator through SciTransfer for current pricing.
The Phase 2 project focused specifically on industrialization and field testing. Multiple HyPump units were implemented in real field conditions as documented in the project deliverables. The system is designed for canal-based irrigation networks of any size.
The HyPump was developed by aQysta Holding BV (Netherlands), the sole partner in this project. As a single-company SME Instrument project, IP is fully controlled by aQysta. Licensing or purchasing arrangements would be negotiated directly with them.
No. The HyPump converts the kinetic energy of flowing water in existing irrigation canals into pumping pressure. It requires zero fuel and zero electricity to operate, achieving what the project describes as zero environmental footprint compared to fuel or energy-powered pumps.
The project data shows up to 37% savings compared to solar pumps. Unlike solar systems, HyPump has no panels, batteries, or inverters — it runs continuously as long as water flows in the canal, regardless of sunlight conditions.
The project completed its Phase 2 (industrialization and field testing) in June 2020. Deliverables confirm multiple HyPump units were implemented and tested in real field conditions. The company aQysta continues to operate commercially via ysta.com.
This is a single-company project by aQysta Holding BV, a Dutch SME that received EU SME Instrument Phase 2 funding — one of the most competitive EU grants for high-growth startups. The 100% industry consortium with no university or research partners signals that the technology had already moved past the lab stage when the project started. Phase 2 funding is specifically for bringing validated innovations to market, which means the EU evaluators assessed aQysta's technology as commercially viable. The sole-company structure means all IP sits with one entity, simplifying any licensing or purchasing discussion.
aQysta Holding BV (Netherlands) — SciTransfer can facilitate a warm introduction to discuss deployment or distribution partnerships.
Want to explore HyPump for your irrigation network or distribution portfolio? SciTransfer connects you directly with the aQysta team — contact us for an introduction.
