At Refrigera 2019 in Piacenza, Italy (20-22 February 2019), CO2 condensing unit (CDU) manufacturers Panasonic and SCM Frigo reported that the market for the technology is growing in Italy’s convenience store market.
“Now we have 20 [CO2 CDUs] in Italy,” Giorgio La Motta, national key account manager at Panasonic, told R744.com.
In Japan, Panasonic boasts 9,500+ CO2 condensing units in 3,500+ stores and has installed some 250 units in Europe since placing them on the market last year, from Iceland in the north to Italy and Spain in the south.
Similarly Nicola Pignatelli, managing director of SCM Frigo (part of the Beijer Ref Group), expressed enthusiasm for CO2 condensing units in the Italian market.
“It’s happening; there’s a good trend.”
Nicola Pignatelli, SCM Frigo
“It’s happening; there’s a good trend,” Pignatelli said. “It will take time but we are doing a lot of training [at the Beijer Ref CO2 Academy in Italy].” He said that most training sessions for this year had already sold out amid high demand in Europe.
Panasonic’s La Motta argues that training is important for local installers as it helps them to understand how CO2 works in varied climates. “Our technology is certified [for] 45°C [ambient temperatures],” he said.
Spanish company AREA Cooling Solutions, which manufactures HVAC&R systems in its Polish factory, is seeing opportunities in diverse markets. It is a newcomer to the CO2 condensing unit market.
“We developed CO2 CDUs two-and-a-half years ago,” said Dariusz Maroszek, product managerat Area Cooling Solutions. “It takes some time to develop.”
The Spanish company has no installations in Italy so far but is seeing developments in Eastern Europe, Maroszek said, citing Ukraine.
