Alstom and the Partnership Foundation Grenoble INP inaugurate the industrial chair HydroLike dedicated to hydraulic machines

On October 9^th Alstom and the Partnership Foundation Grenoble INP inaugurated an industrial chair dedicated to hydraulic machines, called "HydroLike".

The objective of this chair is to unite the research efforts of a number of academic laboratories in Grenoble and Alstom's global technology centre in order to develop the hydraulic machines of the future. Another goal is to enable the holder of this chair to acquire a worldwide profile in the hydropower field through substantial funding for an ambitious research programme.

The Partnership Foundation Grenoble INP is an organisation that promotes the educational and research expertise and excellence of Grenoble INP and favours equal opportunity of access to engineering careers through extensive partnerships between Grenoble INP and companies in the form of scientific and technological sponsorships. The industrial chairs of excellence, such as HydroLike, make up one of the frameworks proposed by the Foundation for cooperation between education, research and business.

This partnership between Alstom and the Grenoble INP Foundation is a new illustration of the power of the Grenoble ecosystem and it will help boost the visibility of the players involved.

The chair is also a new step in the creation of the centre of excellence in hydraulic machine research with broader aims and partnerships. On February 1^st 2013 Alstom inaugurated the headquarters of the global hydropower technology centre. The long-term goal of Alstom and its partners is for this centre to be equipped with an additional turbine test-rig, which will be shared by the centre's private and public partners.

The partnership with Grenoble INP, its engineering schools and its laboratories is a first in France in the hydropower field.

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In particular, its goal is to develop solutions that enable Alstom's customers to increase the production regulating capacity of their hydroelectric power plants and thus better incorporate intermittent generation from renewable energy sources into the grid. Designing turbines capable of adapting to greater variations in power levels is one of the major challenges facing energy transition today.

This centre of excellence will allow the Alstom group to increase and sustain its operations in the Rhône-Alpes region by extending its activity and its joint R&D projects to more upstream research areas. This research is essential to maintain the competitive nature of French products in the face of increasing competition by players from developing countries. This expansion in Alstom's R&D also has a direct impact on the activity of the SMEs involved in the control and monitoring solutions, building new laboratories (civil engineering and equipment), and in building scale models of turbines. Lastly, this centre of excellence will benefit from strong synergy with the Tenerrdis competitiveness cluster and will allow the visibility of Grenoble and its region to be enhanced.

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"Today, hydropower represents the largest renewable energy source world-wide and has a significant potential for growth, especially in Europe. It is essential that research and development resources are expanded in order to deal with these new demands and remain competitive. The creation of this chair in Grenoble dedicated to hydraulic machines is in line with this", declared Maryse François-Xausa, Alstom's Vice-President for Research and Development and Product Marketing.

"From my arrival, I wanted to build on the scientific and technological capital of Grenoble INP and its associated laboratories to forge partnerships with industry leaders. This new project with Alstom is an important programme for our Institute and the University of Grenoble, said Brigitte Plateau, General Administrator of the Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble.

Alstom in Grenoble

Founded in 1917, the Alstom facility in Grenoble covers the entire hydropower value chain, including R&D, sales and marketing, engineering and design, purchasing, manufacturing, project management, installation and commissioning, service and retrofit.There are 850 employees working at the facility in the various departments.

About the Partnership Foundation Grenoble INP

Created in July 2010, the Partnership Foundation Grenoble INP is part of the group Grenoble INP, which comprises six engineering schools. The Foundation proposes a range of innovative personalised sponsorships in line with a development strategy for  Grenoble INP structured around three key values: excellence, internationality, social responsibility.

Press Contact

Alstom

Alice Sertour Tel.: +33 4 76 39 32 73 - alice.sertour@power.alstom.com

Cécile Dodat Tel.: +33 1 41 49 79 42 - cecile.dodat@alstom.com

Fondation Partenariale Grenoble INP

Agence Alternative Média : Dominique Marmoud - Tél. : +33 4 76 12 01 33 - dominique@ampr.fr