The PERL in Lacq

PERL, a research centre dedicated to the energy transition and multi-energy development

Created in 1959 following the discovery of the Lacq gas field in 1951 (see our History), the Lacq Research Centre (PERL) has been one of the pillars of R&D at TotalEnergies since 2013. Located in the heart of Béarn in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department (Southwest France), a province boasting a strong industrial heritage, it has contributed to the region’s scientific and economic prosperity for over 20 years. Driven by highly qualified teams and experimental facilities – the only of their kind in Europe –, PERL plays a decisive role in innovating to support the Company’s energy transition and multi-energy development.

PERL is internationally renowned for its scientific and technical expertise, bringing together nearly 100 employees with more than a dozen different nationalities, organised around three major hubs: 

• Environment & Sustainable Development (ESD),
• Gas Separation and Treatment (STG),
• Physical Chemistry and Analysis (PCA).

There, the teams benefit from 5,000 m² of state-of-the-art laboratories, including micro-pilots, and the Company’s two unique experimental sites:

• Pilot Rivers: an outdoor installation consisting of 16 artificial waterways measuring 40 metres in length, dedicated to studying biodiversity and environmental impacts;
• Lacq Pilot Platform (PPL): a 55,000 m² site dedicated to testing pilots under near-industrial conditions.

Since 2015, PERL has also hosted the PIC (Physical-Chemistry of Complex Interfaces), a laboratory jointly run with ESPCI Paris (an Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution), as part of the ChemStart’up. This partnership strengthens the synergy between fundamental research and applied innovation.

Thanks to this combination of skills, experimental resources and facilities, the PERL teams develop and qualify technologies from the initial stages in the laboratory up to the semi-industrial pilot stages. This comprehensive ecosystem makes PERL a key player in sustainable industrial performance, limiting environmental impacts and innovating to support the energies of the future at TotalEnergies.