Startup Gerotor , based in Puchheim near Munich, received the award for its HPS system, which industrial and manufacturing companies can use to significantly boost the energy efficiency of their machines and plants. The main component of this system is a high-speed flywheel that is integrated in the DC bus of powerful, dynamic machines and plants as an energy storage system in the control cabinet. When braking these systems, the flywheel stores the braking energy and makes it available again the next time the machine starts. This enables energy consumption to be reduced by on average 25%, and in some plants by as much as 50%. Depending on the relevant customer requirements, the HPS system can be scaled as required by connecting several HPS units in parallel or grouping them together in power racks or power containers for plant groups and entire plants.

The Startup Award was presented following participant voting by 500 high-level industry managers at the German Mechanical Engineering Summit 2019 in Berlin, organized by the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) and German trade journal ‘Produktion’.