Coles Supermarket has installed a state-of-the-art carbon dioxide cascade refrigeration system at its Katoomba store in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Head of engineering (store development) at Coles, Calum Shaw, unveiled the new system at an event organised by the Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA) showcasing the impact of the HFC levy.
The event was attended by local representatives including Federal Senator Doug Cameron, NSW ALP candidate for Macquarie Susan Templeman and local Blue Mountains Councillor Don McGregor.
Coles in Katoomba is using a cascade carbon dioxide refrigeration system with a 1.2 tonne charge of CO2 on the 'low side’ servicing the cabinets, and a 400kg charge of R134a on the 'high side' that is contained in the plant room.
Cameron said he was impressed by the steps Coles had taken to reduce refrigeration costs, but more importantly, direct emissions.
"Coles deserves great credit for reducing the direct emissions of fluorocarbon refrigerants, which has also led to substantial cost savings; it is pleasing to see this kind of innovation to reduce energy consumption,” he said.
Until recently, conventional supermarket refrigeration systems have primarily relied on R404a which has an average leakage rate of around 15 per cent of the charge - that's around 500-1000kg for a suburban supermarket.
Although safe for the ozone layer, every kilogram of R404a has the same climate impact of just under four tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Even before the introduction of the Clean Energy Future Plan, supermarket operators had begun to take steps to address the cost burden of leaking HFC refrigeration systems.
For example, Coles introduced its first carbon dioxide supermarket in Gisborne, Victoria and Winmalee in NSW as early as 2005.
Shaw said Coles had invested heavily in testing and designing environmentally safe carbon dioxide refrigeration systems to deliver the most cost and energy efficient solutions available.
"We have worked hard to research best practices all over the world,”he said.
A range of improvements have been introduced to cut costs and electricity use, including efficient LED lighting, installation of night blinds on display cabinets, and integrating the air conditioning system with refrigeration in a single plant.
"Using carbon dioxide refrigerant throughout all the fixed cabinets in store is an efficient and future-proof approach,” he said.
Out of a chain of 700 supermarkets, Shaw said Coles now has 44 carbon dioxide stores.
“Refrigeration is a major source of energy costs for our stores – typically over 50 per cent. This new refrigeration system will reduce our energy bill by approximately five per cent in new stores,”Shaw said.
"In our existing stores we are seeking to reduce emissions immediately by substituting HFC 404a with an interim substitute called HFC 407f, which has around half the direct global warming impact and is considered only an interim solution.”