Supermarket news

Tesco ( Thailand ) has almost completed a 5-year £18-million programme to replace all CFCs and HCFCs used in its stores and is replacing refrigerating equipment with highly energy-efficient systems. Energy consumption has dropped 30%, this being an annual saving of 2250 tonnes of carbon dioxide per store. In Thailand , Tesco has opted for solar refrigeration on a huge scale in its Lotus store in Pathumwan: over half the roof is covered with photovoltaic (PV) solar energy panels producing 460 kilowatts of power. Even if the electricity from the PV system is 5-6 times more expensive than simply plugging into the public grid, use of solar energy makes it possible to reduce peak demand on the power grid and an integrated chiller plant equipped with a sophisticated energy management system ensures lowered energy consumption. http://www.tesco.com/everyLittleHelps, http://netmeter.org/en/story/21 Sainsbury's ( UK ) has cut the energy bill for its 456 stores by £4 million (15% of its refrigeration costs and 5% of its total energy costs), above all by improving the efficiency of its refrigerating equipment. Separate monitoring of energy consumption for refrigeration, lighting and HVAC, humidity and internal and external temperature data was performed for each store, then optimization models were developed and applied. Continuous monitoring and e-mail alerts are used to reduce electricity consumption. RAC. February 2005