High ranking officers from the british, French and US navies attended official opening of the Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator. It was developed and built by ALSTOM under a contract jointly funded by the UK and French MoD Procurement Agencies. The opening ceremony took place at ALSTOM's Technology Centre at Whetstone, near Leicester (UK). The aim of the programme is to demonstrate and test the operation of an advanced naval electric propulsion system before applying the technology to a warship. The ESTD is a shore test facility containing half the electric propulsion plant needed to propel a warship.

The equipment will be put through rigorous tests to ensure its suitability for warship use. The ESTD is an important step towards providing the two countries' navies - and potentially the navies of other nations - with all the benefits of Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) for their future warships' programmes. Studies have shown that integrated propulsion systems can provide operational savings for naval and commercial vessels. When the british and French ESTD programmes have been completed, the demonstrator will be made available to other countries, or industries, for research activities. ALSTOM's electric propulsion is already used on the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer and IFEP is considered a serious contender in the UK for the Future Surface Combatant (FSC) and also for the Future Carrier (CVF). France is also considering it for the Multi-Mission Frigate and the Future Second Carrier.