Invest in France Agency north-america Office

Capenergies now brings together more than 300 participants in the PACA region, Corsica, Monaco, Guadeloupe and Reunion Island involved in energies that do not emit greenhouse gases, from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), small and medium industrial (SMI) companies and very small enterprises (VSE) to industrial groups, via research laboratories and training centers.

Key Figures

Energy in France accounts for:
•    2.5% of the GDP;
•    19% of industrial investment;
•    5% of total investment;
•    2% of research and development; and
•    230,000 jobs (direct and indirect), which is 6% of industrial employment and 1% of the active population.

Exceptional Advantages

•    A unique cluster in France, which groups together all energies that do not emit greenhouse gases.
•    The PACA region, Corsica, Monaco, Guadeloupe and Reunion Island have exceptional solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass resources and are territories of preference for the deployment of new energy systems.
•    Proactive regional energy policies, backed by a development strategy and particularly attentive to energy supply issues.
•    A team of participants bearing skills, technological resources and projects with a high level of international visibility
•    An environmental and global climatic context which requires new approaches and new developments to prepare our companies for the inevitable technological and industrial transformations to come.            

9 energy themes…

The Capenergies cluster is based on the energies of the future, which do not emit greenhouse gases.  It includes all stakeholder energies of the “energy mix” of the future, which will make it possible to control energy consumption, meet with need and protect the environment and the climate.

The scope of the cluster covers 9 main fields:
- Solar
- Wind
- Biomass/Bioenergies
- Hydro/Marine energies
- Fusion
- Fission
- Linking and integration of energy systems
- Hydrogen energy, careers and energy storage
- Control energy demand

Objectives of Capenergies

On energy issues:
•    Develop an energy mix to replace fossil fuels
•    Control consumption
•    Manage the supply and demand balance

For economic development:
•    Increase the competitiveness of our companies
-    by uniting the participants in the cluster
-    by encouraging the emergence and financing of innovative projects
-    by supporting our members internationally
•    Contribute to the attractiveness of the PACA region, Corsica, Monaco, Guadeloupe and Reunion Island
 

A cluster built on the existing strengths of each of the territories

Capenergies has over 300 members.

The cluster thus draws on a wide network of companies, research laboratories and training centres, all deeply involved in innovative projects.  The cluster is concentrated over five geographical areas: the PACA region, Corsica, Monaco, Reunion Island and Guadeloupe.

150 innovative projects certified since 2005: a few examples

•    Micro-wind farms (qq 100 kW) and off-shore wind farms (5 MW)
•    Fuel cells for aeronautical and naval use
•    Cutout/monitoring device controlled remotely
•    Micro-turbines in water pipes
•    Masters and professional training on Renewable Energies, Fusion
•    Seawater desalination with Renewable or Nuclear Energies
•    Production of synthetic fuels from garbage and agricultural and forest debris
•    Mobile platform for the recovery and recycling of waste and forest debris
•    Prediction of water resources optimize management of major hydro-works
•    Photovoltaic roofs for shopping centres
•    Solar lighting

Key Programs:

“Premio” project
Theme: “Controlling Energy”
Development of an innovative and “replicable” local energy architecture that optimizes the integration of local production and distributed storage resources, dynamic load management and energy demand initiatives in order to relieve the constraints on the local electricity network while reducing CO2 emissions over a region.

“Vignola” project
Theme: “solar/H2”
A “world first” combining solar energy, hydrogen and fuel cells to produce, store and restore electricity of solar origin.
Development of a technological transfer centre that integrates a research & development platform backed by a photovoltaic unit, and investigates the massive integration of renewable energy in the energy bundle of Corsica on the basis of “ENR/H2/PAC” linking.

“Silpro” project
Theme: “Solar”
Construction of the world’s first factory of solar grade polysilicon, targeted at the photovoltaic (PV) industry.  A key project for Capenergies, the success of which would firmly engage France in a high-performing photovoltaic sector.

Partnerships:

•    With other clusters: Derbi, S2E2, Tenerrdis and the Mer PACA cluster
•    With nature parks: Regional Nature Park of Luberon, Regional Nature Park of Verdon
•    With chambers of commerce: Marseille Provence CCI, Nice Côte d’Azur CCI, Var CCI
•    With the departmental development agencies
•    And with international partners: the Italian cluster SIIT and the Observatoire Méditerranéen de l’Energie.

• More information on Capenergies