APC 2012 Annual Report Download - page 31

2012 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 29
OVERVIEW OF THEGROUP’S STRATEGY, MARKETS AND BUSINESSES
1
RESEARCH&DEVELOPMENT
Supporting sustainable development
Thanks to funding from the French Environment and Energy
Management Agency (ADEME), the thermodynamic solar
power plant project for “off grid” villages has moved into its
operational testing phase. The two sectors are very advanced
from an engineering stand point: capturing solar energy, thermal
storage, thermodynamic generator, power electronics, controls,
etc. Additional water purifi cation functionality rounds out energy
production. A full-scale installation is being built on the CEA site at
Cadarache, which in2013 will reinforce the expected performance.
This will be done before the actual implementation expected in2014,
fi rst in Africa.
4.5 Human capital
In 2011, we launched a program to develop our competence
networks. More than 120 internal networks of expertise are in
place. Each of the 11,000employees who are directly involved in
research and development or technical engineering operations in
26countries and over more than 70sites will benefi t from collective
approaches to sharing, nurturing and capitalizing on expertise.
This program is part of a long-term vision to increase our
technological leadership. We built this program around areas of
formally identifi ed strategic competences, in order to:
•provide the men and women in R&D a motivating framework in
terms of recognition and development in the Company;
•help improve the time-to-market of our programs by the injection
of resources and core competences;
•better and more quickly anticipate our development in view of the
trends and weak signals in the area;
•structure our internal and external competence plans
(including through participation in structured research projects
andpartnerships).
4.6 Financing innovative startups
In2000, Schneider Electric created an investment structure called
Schneider Electric Ventures to invest in high-tech startups whose
innovations fi t with the Group’s future development.
In2010, Schneider Electric Ventures became Aster Capital with
the launch of a new capital investment fund to fi nance innovative
startups operating within the areas of energy, new materials and
the environment. This new fund received a capital subscription
of EUR105 million from Schneider Electric (EUR40 million),
Alstom (EUR30million), Solvay (EUR15million) and in2012 by
the European Investment Fund (EUR20 million), a benchmark
fi nancial partner in Europe.
The mission of Aster Capital is to purchase minority interests in
innovative startups in the fi elds of energy and the environment
based in Europe, Israel, North America and Asia. These investment
vehicles constitute a source of particularly productive partnerships
and have forged contacts with more than a thousand small and
mid-sized businesses around the world each year. In 2012, four
new investments were realized, joining the three companies already
in the portfolio: Optiréno, Ioxus and Avantium.
Aster currently still holds 11 equity interests in the companies
Solaire Direct, Jet Metal Technologies, Tronics, Casanova, Tiempo,
Ordinal Software, Teem Photonics, HBA, Fludicon, Agilence and
ConnectBlue.
Lucibel – EUR1.5million investment
inJune2012
The French company Lucibel develops and markets innovative
LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting solutions combining energy
savings, durability and quality of light, intended for communities,
professionals and individuals. This company has already established
a fi rst partnership with the LifeSpace Asia Pacifi c division and
initiated cooperation agreements with the Buildings organizations
of different countries.
EcoFactor – USD2million investment
inSeptember2012
EcoFactor has developed an intelligent solution to optimize energy
consumption of residential buildings through dynamic management
of heating and air conditioning while maintaining a level of comfort.
The investment in this American company was supported by the
interest of the LifeSpace North America division for their solution,
particularly in the framework of the Effi cient Home project.
SolarFuel – EUR4million investment
inOctober2012
The production of renewable energy varies depending on weather
conditions, which can generate surplus electricity. The German
company SolarFuel proposes to convert this energy into synthetic
gas. Its technology is already being rolled out in partnership with
Audi, which is launching a CO2-neutral car model powered by this
“e-gas”.
BuildingIQ – USD2million investment
inNovember2012
The system proposed by the American company BuildingIQ
improves the energy performance of commercial buildings . This
software is integrated into existing Building Management Systems
and is capable of predicting needs and adjusting the parameters
of heating, ventilation and air conditioning in real time in order to
reduce energy bills by 15 to 40%. BuildingIQ has already concluded
an initial trade agreement with the Buildings divisions in the United
States and Australia.