Energies

Energy

Environment and natural resources

Chaufferie bois de Besançon - © L. CHEVIET

Since the end of the Middle Ages, the people of Franche-Comté have demonstrated their ability to use their region’s natural resources.
Endowed with mountains, water and incredible biodiversity, Franche-Comté protects and cultivates its natural resources.

Thanks to abundant resources in water, wood, etc., industry has developed in the region while firms have gained excellent expertise in processing metals.

Franche-Comté, a region for leaders

ALSTOM
Alstom was created in Belfort from the merger of SACM with Thomson in 1925. A world leader in transport and energy infrastructure, the Belfort site is home to eight business divisions based on over one hundred years of experience. Alstom holds both records for greatest speed on rails and plant operating capacity.

Alstom has five divisions operating in the region:

Thermal Systems designs and builds turnkey power plants,
Thermal Products manufactures steam turbines and alternators,
Thermal Services maintains and manages power facilities,
Energy Management designs and installs plant I&C equipment,
Hydro designs and installs alternators, motors and auxiliaries for hydro power plants.

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GENERAL ELECTRIC

Renewable energy, electricity production and energy management techniques are the main activities of GE Energy. Its European headquarters, located in Belfort, has 1,600 employees who design and install electric power plants while constantly improving cleanliness, performance and efficiency.

GE Energy’s European headquarters is dedicated to combined-cycle equipment. The only manufacturer of medium and high power gas turbines (from 40 to 280 MW) in France, it has four sites in the Territoire de Belfort:

European headquarters, Belfort;
Technology Centre, Belfort;
Manufacture of gas turbine components, Bourogne;
Gas turbine assembly, Belfort.

Abundant technology resources

Machining super alloys, engineering and machining of complex parts, surface processing, mechanics and micro-mechanics, etc. Within a small area, project owners find all the skills necessary for research, innovation, design, production and maintenance of production systems for all sources of energy. This expertise, which is constantly updated, constitutes part of the wealth of the region’s industry.

Towards an energy mix

Solar Impulse - © Solvay (source www.solvay.fr)

In Franche-Comté, the goal of the Solvay site - located in Tavaux in the Jura - is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources in collaboration with all regional wood sector stakeholders and enterprises.
Franche-Comté also has generous biomass resources.

A further example from chemical sector is the development of products that further sustainable development and reduce energy consumption, such as the “solar impulse”, an aeroplane fuelled by solar energy presented at the 2011 International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

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Training

University of Technology at Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM)

To respond to the growing need for engineers in the energy field, UTBM has added an “Energy and Environment” programme to its Electrical Engineering and Control Systems (GESC) department.
It offers specialised training by teachers and academics in the field and industry experts.

>> UTBM - further information

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Innovation

Energy Valley
A tool for promoting and developing industrial expertise in Franche-Comté for energy and other emerging fields in this sector.

>> Energy Valley - further information

University of Technology Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM) and research

Research relies on the involvement of experts from various backgrounds who share their knowledge through the training offered at UTBM. Energy represents one-third of research activity at UTBM’s Laboratory for Study and Research on Materials, Processes and Surfaces (LERMPS).

>> LERMPS - further information

FC-Lab

Fuel cell system Integration, reliability and durability are the lab’s main research topics. The laboratory is part of a partnership between industry and the CEA, CNRS and universities in Franche-Comté and Nancy.

>> FC-Lab - further information

Enisys

The energy and physics systems engineering department of FEMTO-ST, where 80 people work on systems for measuring, producing, converting and storing thermal and electrical energy.

>> Enisys - further information

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