SRIW, SFPI, and Safran Aero Boosters Agree to Build Center for Test Compressors
Posted on 03/12/2022
S.R.I.W. (Société Régionale dʼInvestissement de Wallonie), S.F.P.I. (Société Fédérale de Participations et d’Investissement), and Safran Aero Boosters are creating BeCOVER and investing €50 million to build and operate an aerodynamic test center in Liège, Belgium. Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense, and space markets. Safran Aero Boosters designs, develops and produces low-pressure compressors (a subassembly of the aircraft engine), oil equipment and test cells for aerospace propulsion. The company equips most of the civil aircraft in service as well as the European launcher Ariane.
BeCOVER stands for Banc d’Essais de COmpresseurs Valorisant l’Environnement et la Recherche (Test Cell for Compressors Enhancing the Environment and Research).
The test center will be used to teset all types of compressors for new generations of civil and military aircraft engines. These new facilities of more than 3,000 square meters will be able to validate inventions to meet the major environmental challenges of the aviation sector. The test center plans to be operational in 2023 and aims to help maintain Belgian expertise in the compressor aerodynamics industry.
BeCOVER will operate the test center autonomously and will entrust its design and construction to the “test cells” entity of Safran Aero Boosters. Special attention will also be paid to reducing noise emissions and integrating the site into the landscape, with a semi-buried building.
Keywords: SFPI-FPIM (Federal Holding and Investment Company).
