THE ACHIEVEMENTS

The mission of the Propulsion & Embedded Energy Excellence Ecosystem (E2 PEE) is to drive the aerospace industry’s focus on energy challenges within the context of climate change.

Like other transport sectors, the aeronautics and space industry must decarbonize. The main levers have been clearly identified: fleet renewal, development of new technologies and new energy sources. It is critical to support Cluster members to accelerate their development by meeting these decarbonization challenges through innovation.

In terms of new technologies (propulsion and energy), the aim is to foster the development of collaborative projects between members in order to bring new propulsion architectures and embedded equipment to market. Often, the technological foundations are the same as those applied in land mobility sectors but they need to be re-developed taking into account regulatory and market constraints specific to the aeronautics and space industries. In close collaboration with the innovation unit, financial 4 is one of the Cluster’s major assets to direct each project on a case by case basis to external funding sources. The integration of some projects into the CORAC PME, the organization of MAELE DAYS in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and in Occitanie, the accreditation of projects under the aegis of France 2030 and the involvement of PEE members in European projects such as Clean Aviation are all examples of E2 PEE expertise support.

The challenges in terms of new energy sources are a bit different. In fact, they are often common to other mobility industries, and even stationary uses. While there are still technical challenges to be resolved in order to develop them, we need to reach the appropriate equilibrium between industries which will enable air mobility to benefit from these new energies. This means battery technologies (especially for small aircraft) , hydrogen or Sustainable Aeronautics Fuel (SAF) which should eventually replace kerosene (Jet A1). The resources needed for these new energies  require huge amounts of electricity, biomass and some materials. The role of E2 PEE is to foster the development of procurement projects for these new sources but also to locally produce them. To this end, E2 PEE is taking part in the development of the SAF industry in our 2 regions and represents the aeronautics industry at national events on hydrogen.

 

LOOKING BACK:

  • Moderation of the IRT / AV working group on « Mapping of test facilities » for the development  and qualification of new propulsion systems under the aegis of decarbonizing air transport (04/22)

  • Involvement of E2PEE in the « SAF OCC working group » following the signature by Aerospace Valley of the common declaration of SAF deployment in Occitanie (06/22)

  • Participation in deployment of the H2 sector in Francazal with showcasing of AV members such as BEYOND Aéro, H2PULSE, Laplace, SAFRAN PU, Absolut Hydrogen, …

  • MAELE DAYS in Bordeaux & Toulouse : 450 participants – 53 speakers – Over 700 BtoB meetings – 1st static exhibition of models / equipment directly related to aircraft decarbonization

  • CORAC PME project pitches: 8 companies showcased for the DGAC and GIFAS visit

  • Development of the SAF sector: an actor in the Occitanie working group + support defining Nouvelle-Aquitaine roadmap

  • Emergence of PEE projects within the framework of AMI MAELE – Challenge 2023 – 22 project ideas – 7 projects submitted