General framework of the activity
Designated as a competitiveness cluster in 2005, by french government, S2E2 contributes to the development of new technological solutions, products and services in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energies.
S2E2 represents more than 180 members around 5 Strategic Business Units (SBU) : 1. Smart grids, 2. Marine renewable energies, 3. Smart buildings, 4. Geothermal energy for buildings and 5. Electronics for energy efficiency.
The S2E2 cluster aims to encourage business competitiveness of companies located in the French regions of Centre Val de Loire, Pays de la Loire and Aquitaine through innovation, essentially by boosting cooperation between firms and laboratories in the form of innovation projects.
The S2E2 cluster is present throughout the river “La Loire” with its main location in Tours, and with offices in Orléans and Angers.
Specific skills in the MRE field
In the filed of Marine Renewable Energy comprises the development of technologies and the control and exploitation of the natural flows of energy provided by the seas and the oceans and involves 3 categories of energy sources under development in Europe: Energy from the ocean swell and the waves (wave energy converter), energy from ocean currents (tidal power…) and energy from the morning winds (fixed and floating wind turbines…)
Lines of development:
- MRE and power plants
- Connection to the network
- Production machines
Products or services in MRE
4 phases to develop innovative products and processes
S2E2 encourages and supports collaborative R&D projects and technological platforms, associating companies, research centres and training organisations. This collaborative approach enables, among other things, the protagonists to share the costs linked to R&D.
Labelling by the Scientific Council of collaborative R&D projects and technological platforms often proves decisive in obtaining national and European funding.
