French and Australian governments announce new partnership to tackle global energy crisis

The French and Australian governments have announced a historic new partnership to tackle climate change, launching FACET: the French-Australian Centre for Energy Transition.

Co-led by CEA, Université Grenoble-Alpes and Swinburne University of Technology (which is also the host of the centre), FACET will strengthen Australia and France’s bilateral relationship by building cooperation on sustainable and inclusive energy initiatives, and support energy transition needs in the Indo-Pacific region.

FACET is a key deliverable under the resilience and climate action pillar of the France-Australia bilateral roadmap.

Open to partners from universities, research and technology organisations as well as industries, FACET will enable joint activities in innovation, research, education and training, with a strong focus on energy transition, through leadership, low-carbon energy production and supply chain decarbonisation.

The centre will support wider adoption of sustainable energy solutions, support multilateral partnerships and advance education and skills to support an ambitious climate change response agenda.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, and the Australian Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, The Hon Tim Watts MP announced the joint endeavour during a visit to Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus.

“Global challenges require global solutions. Today, represents an important step forward in our efforts to tackle one of the biggest threats our world faces – climate change – and work towards net zero,” said President and Vice-Chancellor, Swinburne University of Technology, Professor Pascale Quester.

“Swinburne is proud to play host to this ground-breaking partnership between France and Australia, reflecting our nations’ shared energy transition ambitions and utilising our world-leading scientific and industry-linked commercialisation capabilities.”

Jean-Louis Falconi, Director of International Relations of CEA declared: “CEA and Université Grenoble-Alpes are proud to be alongside Swinburne University of Technology, the founding partners of the new ambitious and promising French-Australian centre for the energy transition. We look forward to jointly developing cooperation on sustainable and inclusive energy initiatives and supporting energy transition needs in the Indo-Pacific region.”

As a dual-sector university, Swinburne offers the unique combination of excellence in research, teaching, skills development and commercial innovation needed to facilitate FACET’s energy transition objectives.

The centre will utilise Swinburne’s world-leading strengths in the hydrogen economy, renewable generation systems, energy storage systems, future energy networks and supply chain decarbonisation.

It will also bring together capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), digital and supercomputer research, remote sensing, learning development, commercialisation and work-integrated learning.

About CEA and Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)

CEA, the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Commission is a major French research organisation with strong roots in fundamental research, that provides tangible solutions to meet industrial and societal needs in four key fields: low-carbon energy (nuclear and renewable); digital technology; technology for medicine of the future; defence and national security.

Thanks to its integrated energy vision, and its industrial strong connections, CEA plays a key role in the R&D for energy transition in France. This knowledge in various technological fields will be shared within the FACET framework.

Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) is a leading European comprehensive university. Academically, UGA is ranked in the top 150 of ARWU Shanghai’s ranking. UGA is a research-intensive university developing cutting age research from basic to applied research. Located in the heart of the French Alps, UGA is renowned for its scientific and technological research activities, aimed at providing essential training to students and faculty and at addressing societal issues. UGA is very active internationally, with 1,100 partnerships with foreign universities. 17% of its 60,000 students and 47% of its 2,700 PhDs are foreigners, and 155 nationalities are represented. 25% of its Masters courses are taught in English.