Safran Group's new centre of excellence in electrical engineering in Créteil, France has been officially opened by chairman of the board Ross McInnes, CEO Olivier Andriès and French minister for transport Clément Beaune.

The 6,400 sqm site brings together Safran Electrical and Power's design and engineering functions for electric and hybrid propulsion, power electronics, electrical distribution and electrical conversion, which were previously spread across several sites. The new building houses the research and technology activities, development and production engineering, the test bench for electrical systems, programme and customer support teams and other support functions. It has been organised to promote cooperation between different teams and to ensure the best working conditions for the 430 employees at the site.

This new engineering centre is at the heart of the design of Safran's electrical systems. The teams define primary and secondary electrical distribution solutions for transporting and managing electricity from generator to load.

The ePower product line is also designed at the Créteil site. These products are for future 100 per cent electric and hybrid aircraft and cover the entire electrical system, including: GENeUSPACK batteries, ENGINeUS electric motors, GENeUSGRID primary and secondary distribution systems, and GENeUSGRID PROPULSION power management systems. The GENeUS generators, designed in Pitstone, UK, complement this product line.

“We are proud to unveil this new centre of expertise where we develop the electric propulsion systems that will soon equip small planes for tourism and for pilot training before being extended to regional commercial aircraft and ultimately to hybridise the new generation of thermal engines. Our teams are highly motivated by the idea of decarbonising aviation through breakthrough electric technologies,” says CEO Stéphane Cueille.

“Making planes electric and hybrid is one of the key elements of Safran's strategy for decarbonising aviation. Safran is also developing breakthrough propulsion architecture, driving the uptake of sustainable aviation fuel and reducing weight across all equipment. Together, all these initiatives will help achieve carbon neutral aviation in 2050,” adds CEO Olivier Andriès.