ChapDrive AS
ChapDrive develops an innovative hydraulic drive train solution for wind turbines with the potential to substantially reduce the cost of wind energy.
ChapDrive was spun out from The Norwegian University of Science Technology (NTNU) in 2006 and is based in Trondheim, Norway. The company develops a patented hydraulic transmission system which replaces the unreliable mechanical gearbox and moves critical components down to the foundation. This enables substantial cost savings for the operator by reducing the top weight of the wind turbine (by approximately 50% on a 5MW), reducing installation and maintenance costs and improving the realiability. The company also develops a hydraulic variable speed control that eliminates expensive frequency converters and enables synchronous generators to be used.
The technology has been sucessfully demonstrated on a 225 kW turbine and is now being scaled up in cooperation with Statoil on a 900kW.
Co investors: NorthZone Venture and Hafslund Ventures
