Environment

Environmental analyses of its products and activities: Naval Group, ISO 14001 certified

The purpose of environmental analyses is to determine the major environmental factors pertaining to our products and activities from a life cycle perspective.

Naval Group specifies and implements the necessary and relevant actions based on these analyses. These actions are mainly aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions (energy consumption, commuting to work), reducing the amount of waste produced and ensuring better reuse, as well as controlling fluid discharge.

In terms of products, Naval Group has been committed since 2008 to an eco-design approach that aims to reduce the environmental impact of its products throughout their life cycle, while maintaining their technical and operational performance. From design to deconstruction, including operation, manufacturing, and maintenance, the environmental impacts of products are identified and eco-friendly solutions are developed by our R&D teams. Naval Group's goal is to offer its customers ships that incorporate eco-responsible solutions, based on three key challenges: stealth (management and reduction of emissions and discharges), sovereignty (moderation in the consumption of resources such as materials, energy, and water), and the ability to navigate all seas (compliance with regulations).

Blue Ship, responsible innovation

Naval Group’s efforts also stand out in the area of R&D. A specific environmental and eco-design orientation is incorporated in our R&D projects. It addresses the need to anticipate regulations, improve eco-design methods, manage waste, emissions and resources as well as their impact on biodiversity.

Blue Ship reflects one of the main guiding principles of our R&D ambition, bringing together all the subjects pertaining to energy and environment, relevant to the group. Its aim is to provide programs with green technologies that combine innovation, new operational capacities and sustainable growth, enabling them to meet these two challenges.

Combining mission autonomy and energy efficiency

Naval Group's compass is its raison d'être: empowering navies with the means to exercise their power. Naval Group is an industrial player in the field of sovereignty, serving sailors who protect their countries: our ships must be efficient and reliable. They must also rise to the challenge of climate change and be sustainable.

Nuclear propulsion is a carbon-free energy source used on some of Naval Group's surface vessels and submarines, meeting the need for mission autonomy and independence from fossil fuels. A nuclear-powered vessel can remain in active service for over 40 years, offering 40 years of independence from fluctuations in the price and availability of fossil fuels, as well as 10 years of autonomy without refueling.

For conventional diesel-powered surface vessels, our goal is to reduce the energy consumption of our ships and fuel consumption. Several levers are possible, including the use of new neutral or carbon-free fuels and associated energy production processes, optimizing the shape of the vessel (hydrodynamics) during design, adding appendages such as foils, integrating navigation aid software, the use of hull cleaning robots to reduce hull fouling caused by algae growth (biofouling), reducing the weight of the vessel, and the use of lithium-ion batteries. With its experience in submarine batteries and anaerobic propulsion modules, the group designs and integrates lithium-ion battery systems and fuel cell-based energy production modules. These technological solutions for storing and producing electrical energy are promising avenues for the decarbonization of ships.