Cotentin. Unique in France, this school of excellence trains elite welders

In the Cotentinthe high school for welding training (Hefais) is one of the examples of the projects selected under the plan France Recovery. A aid of €800,000 has thus been granted for this school of excellence unique in France.

Under associative status, she was founded in February 2021 under the impulsion of four major industrial groups (EDF, Naval Group, Orano and CMN). French industry and especially the nuclear and naval sectors are faced with two problems in terms of welding: a lack of welders and increasingly stringent requirements in these sectors which impose an increasingly high level of skills.

From beginners to more experienced

The ambition of HEFAÏS is therefore to respond to the challenge by training the elite of welders in France who will work on large-scale industrial sites such as the building submarinesof surface ships Where nuclear facilities. So many sectors that the industrial Cotentin knows well…

The school is made to welcome two types of profilesbeginners or confirmed, job seekers or employees in business for further training. Pending installation in a new building at the end of this year 2023 Where early 2024 in the Benecère areaat Cherbourg-en-Cotentinthe first training sessions started in fall 2022 in temporary premises in the Maison-Georges business park, at Beaumont-Hague (delegated municipality of The Hague).

A complementary tool

Ultimately, the ambition is to train 200 welders per year. “It was a request from the local ecosystem. This is a practice that is not sufficiently developed in France,” said the prefect of La Manche, Frederic Perissat, during a visit in September. For him, there is no competition with initial vocational training, this isa complementary tool.

Héfaïs benefits from a strong private/public partnership. The cost excluding the building is €4.2 million (€8.4 million, building included, which is financed by the Cotentin urban community). The part of the industrial leaders of the project is 1.7 M€. Apart from aid of €800,000 through the economic recovery plan, the project is supported by the state and the Normandy region as part of the IFPAI action, regional component of the Investments for the Future Program, operated by the Caisse des Depots (Bank of Territories).

In the same vein, the new training center of the Union of industries and trades in metallurgy (UIMM), opened in 2022 avenue du Général-Koenigin Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, had obtained funding assistance of €500,000 via the France Relance plan.

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