ChapDrive awarded grant of NOK 13million (€1.7m) from Innovation Norway

”ChapDrive’s technology is particularly well suited for large multi MW wind turbines leading to lower top weight, lower investment cost and better reliability. This opens up new opportunities to reduce cost of energy for wind power and ChapDrive’s evaluations indicate a cost of energy reduction of up to 20 % seen over the 20 years expected lifetime of a wind project”, says Jens Anders Jensen, CEO of ChapDrive.

ChapDrive started the second generation integrated hydraulic transmission technology project in august 2011. For the project ChapDrive will apply the newest high efficiency hydraulic components with digital valve technology.

“Historically hydraulic drive trains have been discarded for wind turbines due to lower efficiency levels” says Jens Anders Jensen, CEO of ChapDrive and continues; “The high efficiency hydraulic components used in ChapDrive’s hydraulic drive train solution are the first of its kind to be applied in wind turbines, making the efficiency of ChapDrive’s technology competitive with the standard gearbox solutions”.

Based on the latest developments in ChapDrive the company is now ready to present the technology towards potential customers and industrial partners.

ChapDrive will present the technology at the 9^th Deep Sea Offshore Wind R&D Seminar held the 19-20^th of January in Trondheim, Norway.

ChapDrive has developed its proprietary technology since 2006. Part of this development has been supported by Innovation Norway, ENOVA and the Norwegian Research council together with leading venture capitalists Hafslund Venture AS, Investinor, NorthZone Ventures, Statoil Venture AS and Viking Venture AS.

ChapDrive AS

ChapDrive is located in Trondheim, Norway and was founded in December 2006 based on research from The Department of Energy and Process Engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The company develops a patented system for hydraulic transmission in wind turbines.

About the investors:

Hafslund Venture AS
Hafslund Venture is an active owner in growth companies within renewable energy, energy efficient technology and concepts related to the value chain in Hafslund. The total venture assets under management are more than NOK 4.5bn.

Investinor AS
Investinor AS invests in Norwegian based, high potential companies that are internationally oriented and in the phases ranging from early growth to expansion.

The company has BNOK 2,2 under management and focus on companies within the energy, cleantech, maritime, marine and travel sectors. Cleantech and marine sectors are of particular interest, with i.e. MNOK 500 earmarked for the marine sector. Investinor AS has a co-investment strategy and contributes up to 70% in each round, and can take up to 49% equity ownership of a portfolio company.

NorthZone Ventures AS
NorthZone Ventures is a leading European venture firm specializing on technology. NorthZone has about NOK 2,8 billion under management, and is located in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. NorthZone is currently holding more than 35 technology companies mainly originating from the Nordic area, and Northzone has been a lead investor in among others Stepstone, Nextgentel, Mamut, Funcom, Revolt Technology, Norstel and T-VIPS.

Statoil Venture AS
Statoil Venture is one of the leading venture capital investors within the energy sector in Europe and has been a dedicated investor in the upstream Oil & Gas- and Clean Energy sectors for almost 10 years providing competent capital to high growth technology companies.

Viking Venture AS
Viking Venture is one of the leading technology focused venture funds in Norway with 200 million USD (NOK 1.2 billion) under management. The investment company focuses on companies involved in electronics, software, oil & gas, materials and clean technology. Viking Venture typically invests in companies that have passed the seed phase and is ready for the commercialization phase. The fund is a very active owner with a substantial share in the portfolio companies.

More information
CEO: Jens Anders Jensen, Phone: +47 922 76 881

ChapDrive AS
Professor Brochs gate 2
7030 Trondheim, Norway

chapdrive@chapdrive.com

www.chapdrive.com