Supermarket giants Carrefour, METRO AG and Delhaize are demonstrating that CO2 transcritical refrigeration technology can help retailers to save energy costs and meet their corporate sustainability goals, heard participants in the 7th annual ATMOsphere Europe conference in Barcelona last month.
At ATMOsphere Asia 2016, retail giant METRO AG outlined its ambitious plans to use natural refrigerants in all of its stores worldwide, where technically feasible, while Canadian food retailer Sobeys evidenced how transcritical CO2 systems using heat reclaim can increase end users’ annual savings.
In the inaugural edition of Accelerate Europe, one of the world’s largest retail and wholesale companies, METRO AG, has made natural refrigerants an integral part of its trailblazing environmental sustainability strategy.
With CO2 transcritical retail stores in warmer European climates expected to hit 100 in the next two to five years thanks to technology developments like adiabatic cooling, ejectors and parallel compression, Bulgaria represents a potential growth market for the technology. Although there are still barriers to overcome in the EU Member State positive developments are on the way with leading retailer Kaufland seriously considering CO2-only systems.
The Food Retailer Panel at ATMOsphere Europe 2015 gathered leading end users, amongst them Metro AG, the Delhaize Group, and Ahold, each of which has opted to invest in natural refrigerants for all new stores. With over 500 CO2 transcritical and hybrid installations between them, these retailers are convinced that CO2 is the best refrigerant solution for new stores and refurbishments.
