TABLE OF CONTENTS

CO 2
Transcritical Supermarkets
In 2002 the first supermarket CO 2
transcritical (TC) system
was installed in Coop Lestans, Italy. Since then,
Europe has become the unrivaled technology and
adoption leader for HFC-free commercial refrigeration
systems. By early 2012, industry experts estimated that
around 1,200 food retail stores were already using CO 2
transcritical commercial refrigeration systems in the 27
EU Member States. This was in addition to the thousands
of CO 2
cascade systems deploying carbon dioxide in
subcritical state with another refrigerant that were operating
successfully in Europe and beyond by that time.
However, while an overall ballpark figure of 1000-1500
CO 2
TC stores was assumed to be in the range of industry
expectations, no single report or publication had ever
attempted to list and track installations by EU Member
State. This was despite the fact that a more precise figure
would be urgently needed by both technology leaders
and legislators to quantify the future market potential of
non-fluorinated gases, based on present figures and regional
variation in the speed of market adoption.
From March to November 2011, shecco conducted detailed
research among all major European supermarket
chains, refrigeration system manufacturers and component
suppliers to get as close as possible to the exact
figure for CO 2
transcritical supermarket installations.
16 food retail chains, 14 system suppliers and component
providers and 4 industry associations gave direct
feedback regarding the number of installed systems, in
addition to an analysis of available third party sources. In
total, 106 supermarket chains, 34 system manufacturers,
and 64 third parties - industry associations and not-forprofit
organisations - were contacted.
The Leaders
When looking at the CO 2
transcritical supermarket map,
four countries show significantly higher numbers of
R744 installations than the others. Denmark (424), Germany
(166), Switzerland (149), and the UK (267) have
used very different tool sets combining voluntary standards,
restrictions on refrigerant charges, taxation and industry
initiatives. The following is a summary of each of
these four CO 2
TC leaders:
Denmark
Up to 2/3 of all Danish supermarkets are already running
with CO 2
TC systems today. This is remarkable, given that
the gradual replacement of old systems will continue
into the near future, and that CO 2
cascade systems also
have their market share. Today, Denmark is considered
a pioneer and role model when it comes to legislating
high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. Danish
policy is stricter than EU policy and largely explains
the flourishing CO 2
transcritical commercial refrigeration
market.
Danish regulations, by and large prohibit the use of HFC
gases and ozone depleting substances as refrigerants
(see policy section). Whilst charges between 150 g and
10 kg HFC per circuit are permitted, as well as factory assembled
heat recovery units with less than 50 kg, since
2007 all other new refrigeration systems with charges
above 10 kg have been prohibited.
Complementing the HFC ban, in 2001 Denmark introduced
a tax on the imports of bulk HFCs. The tax is 150
Dkr (approximately €20) per tCO 2
eq. Moreover, to promote
the spread of natural refrigerants, the Danish Environmental
Protection Agency has set up a Knowledge
Centre for HFC-free Refrigeration.
Denmark’s success in making the use of f-gases financially
and technically prohibitive in food retailing within
the shortest timeframe is lauded overseas in discussions
on restricting the use of hydrofluorocarbons.
Germany
The buoyant German market for CO 2
transcritical supermarket
installations is largely thanks to an incentive
scheme for commercial refrigeration using natural refrigerants
run by the Federal Ministry for Environment
(BMU). As part of the “Integrated Energy and Climate
Protection Programme”, at the end of 2008 the German
Government instituted a “Climate Protection Incentive
Programme for commercial refrigeration plants”. This
programme covers 25% of the net investment cost for
new installations with a minimum energy consumption
of 150,000 kWh per year using natural refrigerants. Retrofits
of existing systems are also eligible to receive 25%
of net investment costs, but must undergo an independent
review to prove energy efficiency savings of 35% as
a result of the new refrigeration system. Bonus funding
is available if the natural refrigerant system is non-electrically
powered, or if the waste heat from the refrigeration
systems is recovered. The incentive scheme applies
to food retail chains.
Retrofits of existing systems that do not use natural refrigerants
but still operate with conventional fluids will
be supported by only 15% of net investment costs, provided
the system is more energy-efficient after.
Switzerland
In November 2004 the first CO 2
direct expansion refrigeration
system was installed in a Swiss hypermarket in
Wettingen. Since then several supermarket chains have
made the switch to CO 2
refrigeration systems, including
leading retail chains Migros and Coop. The adoption of
CO 2
transcritical installations in Switzerland has been
incentivised by a mix of the voluntary “Minergie-Label”
and HFC regulation.
The Minergie-Label is a voluntary standard, launched in
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