IFP Energies nouvelles

What IFP Energies nouvelles does

IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) is a French public-sector research, innovation, and training organization established in 1954, operating under the supervision of the French Ministry for Ecological Transition as an Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC). The organization conducts fundamental and applied research across three integrated domains: energy, transport, and environment, with core technical competencies spanning catalysis and biocatalysis, geosciences, chemical engineering, renewable energies, sustainable mobility, climate/circular economy, and responsible oil and gas. Its headquarters are in Rueil-Malmaison, with additional research sites in Lyon and Paris.

IFPEN's commercial and scientific output is built on proprietary technologies and software platforms including Rock-Eval (thermal analysis for rocks, soils, and environmental characterization including microplastic quantification), TemisFlow (basin modeling software commercialized via BeicipFranlab), CooresFlow (reactive transport simulator for CO2 sequestration), molecular modeling toolkits for heterogeneous catalysis, and the Futurol process for 2nd-generation bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. The organization also operates IFP School, a graduate engineering school with 15,000+ alumni across 100+ countries offering 11 industry-oriented programs and 3 master's degrees, and runs two wholly-owned Carnot institutes (Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie and Carnot IFPEN Ressources Énergétiques) that channel research capabilities to innovative SMEs and start-ups.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: public research funding from the French government and European research programs; contract research, joint development, and technology licensing with industrial partners (TotalEnergies, Solvay, Saudi Aramco, Technip FMC are named collaborators); and tuition/fees from IFP School graduate programs and IFP Training's 550+ professional courses. The go-to-market is community- and partnership-led, with technology distributed via direct collaborative research agreements, licensing arrangements, and spin-off vehicles rather than conventional commercial sales channels.

Name

IFP Energies nouvelles

Legal name

IFP Energies nouvelles

Website

https://ifpenergiesnouvelles.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

IFP Energies nouvelles is a French public research, innovation, and training organization operating in energy, transport, and environment. It conducts fundamental and applied research, licenses proprietary technologies, supports SMEs via two Carnot institutes, and trains engineers through IFP School.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Research & Development Services

NAICS

Engineering Services (54133), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Oil & Gas Field Exploration Services (1382)

akta.pro primary industry

Siting, Resource Assessment & Environmental Tech R&D (Remote Sensing, Wake Modeling, Wildlife Mitigation) (EUAMAOAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Waste Heat Recovery & Heat Integration (HRSG/ORC, Pinch Analysis, Heat Exchangers) (EUABAJAF)

Keywords

• Energy research services
• Applied catalysis research
• Renewable energy innovation
• Engineering graduate programs
• Carbon capture solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Rueil-malmaison

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Public Research Funding: IFPEN is a French State-owned industrial and commercial establishment (EPIC - Etablissement public à caractère industriel et commercial) primarily funded through public sources including government research grants, European research programs, and institutional funding.
2. Research Contracts and Partnerships: Revenue generated through collaborative research agreements with industrial partners, technology licensing, and contract research services.
3. Training and Education Services: IFP School generates revenue through graduate programs, professional training courses, and continuing education. IFP Training offers over 550 courses.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) conducts fundamental and applied research in energy, transport and environment, developing technologies for renewable energies, sustainable mobility, climate and circular economy, and responsible oil and gas. It transfers proprietary technologies (e.g., Rock-Eval thermal analysis, TemisFlow basin modeling, CooresFlow simulation, Futurol bioethanol process) through licensing and joint development, runs industry-oriented graduate engineering and doctoral training programs through IFP School, and supports innovative SMEs and start-ups via its two Carnot institutes.

Product overview

IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) is a public research, innovation and training organization operating across energy, transport and environment sectors. The organization offers a portfolio of products including IFP School (graduate engineering and research training programs), Rock-Eval® thermal analysis technology for material characterization, TemisFlow™ basin modeling software commercialized through BeicipFranlab, CooresFlow™ reactive transport simulation tools, and the Futurol™ 2nd-generation bioethanol process. The organization focuses on fundamental research, applied innovation, and technology transfer to support the energy transition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IFP School Graduate Programs Public engineering school under French Ministry supervision delivering industry-oriented graduate programs, research-oriented master's degrees, and doctoral theses in energy and sustainable mobility. Enrolls around 500 graduates per year, with approximately 80% of students financed by companies and 15,000+ alumni across 100+ countries.
• TemisFlow Basin Modeling Software Basin modeling software integrating new models involving organic geochemical concepts, including modules for calculating organic porosity and methane adsorption potential. Commercialized by BeicipFranlab for geoscience and exploration applications.
• CooresFlow Reactive Transport Simulator Reactive transport simulation tool for modeling CO2 injection in underground environments during carbon capture and sequestration operations.
• Futurol 2nd-Generation Bioethanol Process Process for producing 2nd-generation bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass using enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation with the Trichoderma reesei fungus enzyme cocktail, supported by BRANE gene network optimization tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20x reduction in computational runtime for two-phase combustion simulation using RFM-NN-ISAT approach
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• IFP SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026IFP School, a public engineering school under French Ministry supervision, collaborates with IFPEN for training through research. IFP School offers industry-oriented graduate programs and contributes to research-oriented master's programs via structured partnerships with French universities and engineering schools.
• IIT ISM DhanbadmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026MoU signed at Bharat Innovates 2026 in Nice, France, for joint research, student and faculty exchanges, and technology development in energy transition, sustainable mining, critical minerals, advanced materials, and digital technologies. Part of Indo-French cooperation in research and education.
• TEXMiNmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026MoU signed at Bharat Innovates 2026 for mining innovation partnership with IFPEN and École Centrale de Nantes. Aims to support joint research, student and faculty exchanges, and technology development in energy transition, sustainable mining, critical minerals, advanced materials, and digital technologies.
• École Centrale de NantesmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026MoU signed at Bharat Innovates 2026 for mining innovation partnership with IFPEN and IIT ISM Dhanbad. Supports joint research, student and faculty exchanges, and technology development in energy transition and sustainable mining.
• GevocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Gevo is developing Ethanol-to-Olefins technology in partnership with Axens and IFPEN for fuel applications. The technology converts ethanol into light olefins for transportation fuel production using Alcohol-to-Jet technologies, claiming up to 35% lower capital and operating costs. Gevo pioneers North American deployment while Axens provides global licensing and engineering services.
• Argylium (Syensqo, Axens, IFPEN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Argylium is a joint venture launched by Syensqo and Axens with IFPEN as research partner to develop and industrialize sulfide solid electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. Syensqo contributes pilot production line in La Rochelle, Axens provides process design and scale-up expertise, and IFPEN contributes inorganic chemistry knowledge from Lyon. The venture aims to establish a European ecosystem for solid electrolyte commercialization by 2030.
• CNRS/ENS LyoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025CNRS Research Common Laboratory (LCR) associating IFPEN and the Chemistry Laboratory of ENS Lyon since 2025, led by Pascal Raybaud. Focuses on molecular modeling for catalysis and rational design of innovative catalysts.
• Utrecht UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2019Fadi Henri Nader from IFPEN appointed Professor of 'Multiscale fluid-rock interactions' chair at Utrecht University for five years. Results from framework collaboration agreement (2017-2022) on geosciences and sustainable development for energies.
• Carnot IFPEN Transports EnergiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarnot institute focused on transport and energy, providing support for innovative SMEs and start-ups in these sectors.
• Carnot IFPEN Ressources EnergétiquescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarnot institute focused on energy resources, supporting innovative SMEs and start-ups in energy sectors.
• CIROQUO ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustrial research consortium dedicated to optimization and quantification of uncertainties for expensive data. Managed by École Centrale de Lyon and jointly led by IFPEN, bringing together 6 academic partners and 7 technological research partners.
• ROAD4CAT ChairmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustrial chair on Rational Design for Catalysis gathering IFPEN, Univ. Lyon, Chemistry Laboratory of ENS Lyon, CNRS, and IDEXLYON. Research program investigated genesis and reactivity of heterogeneous catalysts by advanced quantum simulation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TNO: Dutch applied research organization working across energy transition, circular economy, and sustainable mobility. Comparable public-purpose applied-research model with strong industrial contract research and IP licensing.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): U.S. Department of Energy national lab focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D. Comparable as a publicly funded, mission-driven research organization translating lab science into industrial deployment — though narrower in scope (renewables vs. IFPEN's full energy mix).
• Fraunhofer Society: Germany's largest applied-research organization with 75+ institutes covering energy, mobility, chemistry, and process engineering. Closest analog to IFPEN's mandate: publicly funded applied research with industry contract work, licensing, and spin-offs across the same energy/transport/environment domains.
• Helmholtz Association: Germany's largest scientific organization, encompassing energy-focused centers such as Forschungszentrum Jülich, KIT, and DLR. Comparable in scale, public-mandate model, and energy-transition research scope including hydrogen, storage, and renewables R&D.
• CSIRO: Australia's national science agency, with energy, resources, and manufacturing programs. Comparable public-good applied-research model serving industrial customers with licensing and joint development across mining, energy, and decarbonization.
• CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives): French public research organization with parallel mandate in low-carbon energies, batteries, hydrogen, and advanced materials. Directly comparable as a France-based State research body competing for the same national and EU funding pools and serving overlapping industrial partners.
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Finland's national applied research center covering energy, mobility, bioeconomy, and industrial chemistry. Directly comparable in size, mandate, and operating model — public applied research with industry contract work and licensing in low-carbon technologies.
• SINTEF: Norway's largest independent research institute, with deep upstream oil & gas, CCS, renewables, and materials science programs. Closely comparable scale (~2,000+ employees) and similar mix of contract research for energy majors, technology licensing, and applied research output.

Broad incumbents

• Saudi Aramco (R&D): Saudi Aramco's research centers (Dhahran, KAUST-adjacent) conduct large-scale upstream, refining, and decarbonization R&D. Comparable industrial research scale and serves both as a partner and as a competing in-house R&D function for similar applied energy problems.
• TotalEnergies (R&D / OneTech): French supermajor with a large in-house R&D division working on CCS, biofuels, hydrogen, and lubricants — directly overlapping IFPEN's research areas. Functions partly as a customer (CarMa Chair) but also as a competitive in-house R&D operator.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ifpeninnovation
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@IFP-Energies-nouvelles
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/school
• Instagraminstagram.com/ifpen_officiel?igsh=cTNlbmZpY2NwdnZk
• Facebookfacebook.com/IFP-School-135706763121931

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments2 records

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Frequently asked questions about IFP Energies nouvelles