Euregio Innovation Award 2026: Second place for VAHLE Automation’s hybrid energy storage system
VAHLE Automation GmbH took second place in the ‘Concepts/Prototypes’ category at the 9th Euregio Innovation Award. The award recognised a hybrid energy storage system that efficiently compensates for peak loads in industrial applications, reduces infrastructure costs and stabilises the energy supply to existing plants.
Further proof of the VAHLE Group’s innovative strength: VAHLE Automation GmbH took second place in the ‘Concepts/Prototypes’ category at the 9th Euregio Innovation Award. VAHLE Automation GmbH has taken second place in the ‘Concepts/Prototypes’ category at the 9th Euregio Innovation Award. With its project ‘Decentralised hybrid energy storage systems for peak load compensation in industrial applications’, the systems provider stood out amongst numerous entries from Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino. The development team presented the innovation on 29 August 2026 at the European Forum Alpbach, where they received the award. The award-winning prototype was developed as part of the FFG-funded HESS4MRA research project in close collaboration with the i-PEL team at the University of Innsbruck and with support from Infineon Austria. The VAHLE Group is now gradually transferring the technology into industrial application.
“Our solution provides additional energy precisely when it is needed. This preserves the batteries, extends their service life and sustainably reduces the load on the power grids of existing systems,” explains Michael Eckle, CTO of the VAHLE Group and Managing Director of VAHLE Automation. The background to this development lies in the typical demands of everyday industrial operations: whenever machines start up, accelerate or brake abruptly, brief periods of high load peaks occur. To meet these temporary demands, power grids and energy storage systems have often had to be significantly oversized, which is both complex and costly.
The system was developed at the Schwoich site near Kufstein, which serves as the VAHLE Group’s central innovation hub for automation, control technology and smart energy solutions. As the Group’s R&D think tank, the Tyrolean site brings together expertise in forward-looking technologies and links research findings with industrial practice.
Decentralised hybrid solution absorbs peak loads
The Schwoich development centre addresses the challenge of fluctuating energy demand with a well-thought-out system concept: the storage solution combines a conventional battery with a supercapacitor, which can absorb and release energy particularly quickly. Whilst the battery ensures a continuous basic supply to the systems, the supercapacitor covers occasional peak demands within seconds. This takes the strain off distribution networks and energy storage systems and prevents costly expansions of the operational infrastructure.
“The fact that this technological approach was awarded second place in the Euregio Innovation Prize is an outstanding recognition of the work carried out by our development team in Schwoich and the close cooperation with our research partners,” adds Eckle.
From the research laboratory to industrial application
An intelligent control system distributes the electrical power fully automatically between the battery and the supercapacitor. Following successful test series under laboratory conditions, the first components of this new development are already being used in real-world pilot projects.
The measurement results demonstrate the technology’s high potential for everyday industrial use: by using the hybrid system, infrastructure costs can be reduced by up to 30 per cent, whilst existing plants can achieve up to 35 per cent more output. Furthermore, the system reliably compensates for up to 90 per cent of short-term power cuts, thereby significantly increasing operational reliability.
“The areas of application range from driverless transport vehicles in warehouses, through robotic and crane systems, to highly dynamic port applications,” says Eckle. The innovation also opens up new possibilities for electric overhead conveyor systems in the semiconductor industry: there, the vehicles automatically transport sensitive silicon discs – known as wafers – between the individual production stages and benefit from a seamless power supply that places minimal strain on the grid.
