Air Liquide and the CEA strengthen their partnership by signing a strategic agreement

After jointly conducting a number of projects in recent years on energy transition, Air Liquide and French government-funded technological research organization CEA have decided to strengthen their partnership via a five-year-long strategic agreement. This agreement extends to three new areas the work already being conducted jointly: advanced materials and manufacturing for the plants of the future, digital technologies for big data processing, connected objects for continuous improvements in operations and services for customers and patients.

The aim of this strategic partnership is to accelerate the process of industrializing new technologies and to deploy new uses in the production or application of gases for industry and health. Leveraging the complementarities of the two partners’ acquired skills and expertise, the projects conducted will also seek to combine and strengthen the innovation ecosystems of each one, comprised in particular of French SMEs and innovative start-ups.

A strategic committee composed of representatives from both Air Liquide and the CEA will ensure the governance of these R&D projects. In addition, the committee will develop a shared vision of the technological opportunities of the future and the conditions for the emergence of new markets.

Air Liquide and the CEA are already working together on the emergence of new energy sectors, with a pilot production unit for second generation biofuels in Bure-Saudron (France), as well as on hydrogen energy, as part of the “Battery autonomy and power” plan, which is one of the French government’s 34 industrial plans.

This long-term public-private partnership is aligned with Air Liquide’s open innovation approach and strengthens its commitment within France’s innovation ecosystem.