EXOES

Their core work

EXOES is a French engineering SME specializing in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems and two-phase fluid machinery — technology that converts waste heat and low-grade thermal energy into useful power. They design proprietary expanders and compressors that handle liquid-gas mixtures, originally targeting waste heat recovery on heavy-duty trucks and now extending into combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) for renewable multi-generation systems. The company operates at the intersection of thermodynamics and mechanical engineering, turning academic ORC research into patentable hardware. Based in Gradignan near Bordeaux, they are a technology developer rather than a contract research lab.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016-2020 EXOES led TORC, a self-contained effort to put an Organic Rankine Cycle onto heavy trucks — a single-vehicle, fuel-economy application funded through the SME Instrument. From 2020 onward, with REGEN-BY-2, the same ORC and two-phase machinery expertise is being redirected toward stationary renewable multi-generation: flexible CCHP systems combining cooling, heating and electricity. The trend is a shift from mobile automotive waste heat recovery to distributed renewable energy, moving the company out of the transport niche and into the broader energy transition market.

EXOES is repositioning its ORC and two-phase machinery know-how from automotive waste heat recovery toward stationary renewable CCHP systems, which opens collaboration doors in building energy, district heating, and industrial decarbonization.

How they like to work

EXOES has done both — coordinating a €2.1M SME-Instrument project (TORC) where they drove the agenda, and later joining a larger RIA consortium (REGEN-BY-2) as a specialist partner contributing their expander and compressor hardware. Their 13 unique partners across 6 countries suggest a modest but genuinely international network rather than a local French cluster. They are comfortable at the center of a small innovation project and as the hardware specialist inside a larger research consortium.

Thirteen consortium partners spread across six countries, reflecting a European rather than purely French footprint. The jump from a coordinator-led SME project to a multi-country RIA indicates growing integration into EU energy research networks.

What sets them apart

Few European SMEs own working hardware for two-phase fluid expanders and compressors — most ORC work happens inside large OEMs or academic labs. EXOES sits in that narrow gap: small enough to move fast on custom designs, yet with enough IP and EU funding history (€2.8M across two projects, including a coordinator role) to be a credible component supplier. For a consortium builder who needs an actual thermodynamic machine rather than a simulation, EXOES is a short list candidate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TORC
  Coordinator role on a €2.1M SME-Instrument project — their flagship demonstration of Organic Rankine Cycle hardware on a heavy-duty truck.
• REGEN-BY-2
  Marks their strategic pivot from automotive to renewable multi-generation, bringing two-phase fluid expanders and compressors into a CCHP context.