CO2 supermarkets worldwide

In its latest Accelerate Europe magazine, Shecco has disseminated figures illustrating the growth of CO2 in the commercial refrigeration sector.
In its latest Accelerate Europe magazine, Shecco has disseminated figures illustrating the growth of CO2 in the commercial refrigeration sector.

Europe is the world leader in terms of CO2 adoption with over 5,500 supermarkets using CO2 transcritical systems, having risen from 2,885 in 2013 and 1,330 in 2011. Shecco is predicting an additional 6,000 CO2 systems per year from 2016 across Europe.

The adoption of CO2 is also beginning to accelerate elsewhere. With only 190 installations in March 2014, Japan’s adoption of CO2 has since exploded to over 1,000 stores. This growth is engendered by the commitments of two leading retailers, Lawson and AEON. This growth will continue as AEON will retrofit their existing 3,500 stores gradually with CO2 systems.

In North America, Canada leads the charge with 139 CO2 supermarkets, benefiting from CO2 transcritical’s good efficiency in low-ambient temperatures. The United States has improved its usage of CO2 supermarkets with an increase from 2 installations in 2013 to 52 in 2015.

For now, South Africa has 52 CO2 transcritical systems, and will have a growing usage with retailers Woolworths and Makro using the systems in their supermarkets.

China’s commercial refrigeration sector is still in its infancy, with 8 stores using CO2, but only one is a CO2 transcritical store. There is, however, an expectation that this will accelerate soon with international supermarkets such as Carrefour looking to increase penetration of CO2 technology in China.