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Safran invests heavily in France to develop new carbon brakes

Safran, the French aerospace company, announced on Thursday that it would build a carbon brakes plant in France. This is a significant investment in France after a highly-publicized competition against alternative sites in America and Canada.

Once completed, the 30,000 sq. ft. facility in Lyon, a partially-state-owned company that builds jet engines, competes with RTX's Collins Aerospace unit to sell other equipment such as brakes and landing gear.

The announcement confirms, along with higher earnings for the mid-year period, a report published on Wednesday, that the Paris-based company was set to choose France as its fourth plant, following a highly-sensitive contest, overshadowed in part by concerns about energy supply.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron, who has made reindustrialisation a priority in his political agenda, is closely monitoring the outcome of this long-delayed competition. Meanwhile, U.S. president Donald Trump wants Europe to invest more money in the United States.

These investments must be planned out years in advance due to the size of factories. However, the decision has been pushed back by energy and trade politics.

The original plans to build the site in Lyon (France's third largest city) were scrapped due to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 and the sharp increase in energy prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Safran CEO Olivier Andries made a statement in which he acknowledged that the state-owned electricity utility EDF had supported the decision to locate the plant. The plant will be based on biomethane, and it will use low-carbon electricity.

The cost of carbon brakes can be accounted for by energy. Industry sources claim that Safran and EDF had clashed over the supply of cheap supplies in the past, but tensions have eased since the recent change of management at EDF.

Safran, the company that pioneered carbon brakes on jetliners and Formula 1 cars, claimed they were lighter, more durable, and allowed airlines to save fuel.

Safran said that the new site in the Plaine de l'Ain Industrial Park will start operations in 2030. It will allow the company to increase its production by 25 percent between now and the year 2037, by joining a three-site network in France, USA and Malaysia.

(source: Reuters)