Indo-French roundtable on Energy Storage Collaborations

New Delhi, 20 November 2015

On the occasion of the visit to India of a delegation from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the French Embassy and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) organized a roundtable discussion on Friday, 20 November 2015 on energy storage technologies and the possibilities for collaboration between India and France in this emerging area.
The discussions focused on three key areas: France’s advancements in the field of energy storage and the role of energy storage; India’s need for energy storage for integrating renewable energy in the power grid; and the possibility of technology partnerships that would position India as a climate leader and prepare the domestic energy system for the integration of a large renewable energy base.

Mr Laurent Fabius, French Minister of International Affairs and International Development, incoming chair of the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21/CMP11), addressed the concluding session of these roundtable discussions with Indian experts and stakeholders.

Note :

 CEA: The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) is a public body established in October 1945 by General de Gaulle. A leader in research, development and innovation, the CEA mission statement has two main objectives: becoming the leading technological research organization in Europe and ensuring that nuclear deterrence remains effective in the future.

CEA in figures (2014)

• 10 research centres
• 16 110 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff
• 51 joint research units (UMR)
• 53 Memoranda of Understanding with universities and schools
• 751 priority patents filed
• 27 Equipex (facilities of excellence)
• 33 Labex (Laboratories of excellence)
• 3 Idex (Initiatives of excellence)
• 178 start-ups since 1972 in the innovative technologies sector
• 4.4-billion-euro budget
• 760 European projects obtained with CEA participation under the European FP7 since 2007

What does the CEA do?
The CEA is active in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technology and health technology. In each of these fields, the CEA maintains a cross-disciplinary culture of engineers and researchers, building on the synergies between fundamental and technological research.

How many people work for the CEA?
The total CEA workforce consists of 15 838 employees. Across the whole of the CEA (including both civilian and military research), there are 1556 PhD students and 293 post-docs.

What is the budget of the CEA?
The CEA has a yearly budget of €4.3 bn.