Tyrolean Startup REPS Raises $23.6M to Turn Road Braking Into Clean Energy

A small company from Tyrol wants to fundamentally change the way we generate energy. The startup REPS (Road Energy Production System) has closed a funding round of $23.6 million (around €20 million) and is thereby entering a new phase of scaling. The technology behind it is as simple as it is compelling: vehicles brake, energy is generated, and that energy is converted directly into clean electricity.

What REPS does and how the technology works

REPS installs hydraulic triggers beneath the road surface, precisely where vehicles are already required to slow down. When a truck or car drives over the so-called REPS road plate, the vehicle’s forward momentum is converted into vertical force via hydraulic cylinders. This force drives an energy conversion module based on permanent magnets, which induces electrical voltage in surrounding copper coils through changes in the magnetic field.

The decisive advantage over other approaches lies in efficiency. According to REPS, the system is more than 254 times more efficient than dynamo-based systems and even 13,000 times more efficient than piezo technologies. Since no mechanical contacts are used, wear is minimal. The service life is stated at over 20 years.

A single road plate is 12 metres long and 3 metres wide. It contains 27 trigger pairs in nine modular units and is integrated into a 12.5-centimetre-thick load-bearing layer within the existing road structure, without requiring any additional surface area.

First real-world proof at the Port of Hamburg

Since November 2025, REPS has been operating its first commercial installation at Hamburger Container Service (HCS) in the Port of Hamburg. The site in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg records around 1,000 truck movements per day, providing ideal conditions for the system.

“The installation at our facility demonstrates the potential of REPS. Where vehicles have to brake anyway, clean energy is recovered and can be used directly where we need it — without disrupting traffic and without requiring additional space.” Justin Karnbach, CEO Hamburger Container Service

The results so far are impressive: more than 115,000 trucks have passed over the installation to date, generating over 6,700 kilowatt-hours of electricity. If 229 additional systems were installed in the Port of Hamburg alone, around 10 gigawatt-hours of electricity could be generated per year, according to REPS. That corresponds to the annual consumption of approximately 2,800 households and would offset around 10 percent of the port’s traffic-related CO2 emissions.

Where the money is going

Founder and CEO Alfons Huber is clear in his message: after six years of development work, the scaling phase is now beginning. The fresh capital is to be used to commercialise the existing patents, expand sales activities, and realise new installations. The investor has not yet been publicly named.

Specifically, REPS is already in talks with around 90 potential customers from the port sector in Europe, North America, and Asia. The business model is flexible: customers can purchase the installation, or REPS installs and operates the system and sells the generated electricity directly.

Potential deployment sites and global outlook

In the short term, REPS is focusing on industrial sites with constant heavy-goods traffic. These include in particular:

• Ports and container terminals
• Logistics and distribution centres
• Airports
• Motorways with defined braking zones

In the long term, deployment in the public road network is also planned. As an example, REPS cites the city of Dubai: 64,000 systems could generate around 3.2 terawatt-hours of electricity there annually, which would correspond to nearly 11 percent of the city’s current electricity consumption.