Company profile

This text is extracted from the Activity Report 2010 of Laborelec ...

Laborelec is a leading research and competence centre in electrical power technology. It was established in 1962 in order to support Belgian electricity companies with research, development, and specialized services. Today, it is part of the GDF SUEZ Group, a world leader in energy. Shareholders are Cofely Services and Tractebel Engineering.

Functionally, Laborelec falls under the GDF SUEZ Group’s Research and Innovation Division (DRI). DRI counts ten research labs employing more than 1,200 researchers who are specialized in each of the technical domains related to the GDF SUEZ activities.

Laborelec is active all over the world and realizes approximately 25% of its services turnover outside of Belgium. 22% of our activities are performed for customers outside the GDF SUEZ Group. Our headquarters are located near Brussels, and we also operate branch offices in the Netherlands and Germany. In 2010, Laborelec employed a staff of 250 people and had an annual turnover of 46.8 million euros.

Mission statement

• Laborelec performs contract research and technical expertise services in electrical power and new energy technology. We improve the business of our shareholders and our external customers on the international market.
• Through our contract research, we improve the operational excellence of existing electrical power assets, we prepareour customers for their future challenges, we develop new solutions for energy end-users needs, and we anticipate andexplore the potential and risk of emerging energy technologies.
• Through our technical expertise and consulting services, we create value for our customers from cost savings, failure prevention, risk reduction, efficiency improvement, availability improvement, safety improvement and environmental footprint reduction of energy installations.
• We develop and maintain excellent expert competences covering the entire electrical power value chain, including generation (nuclear, fossil-fired and renewable), storage, transmission & distribution and end-use. We combine expert knowledge with state-of-the-art measurement and analysis capability, with practical experience acquired from technical assistance to plant or network operators. We implement a creative, solution-oriented and open innovation approach, with strong international partners.
• In all cases, we seek valuable long-term relationships with our customers, based on sound market principles and an openminded partnership approach. We also guarantee the professional quality and objectivity of our results and recommendations.
• With our research and our expertise services, we work actively and passionately towards a more sustainable (i.e. a more reliable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly) energy supply.