3.3 The Growth of Integrated CO2 Systems

There are at least two regions, Australia and Europe, that are seeing significant interest in integrated transcritical CO2 systems, which combine refrigeration, air-conditioning and space/water heating (through heat reclaim).

In Australia, the large food retailer Woolworths has installed a number of integrated transcritical systems among its CO2 installations and plans to use this technology where feasible.71 A remodeled Michael’s SUPA IGA store in Keysborough, Victoria, Australia, has also installed a fully integrated and highly efficient transcritical CO2 HVAC&R system.72

In Europe, all of the 22 Delhaize Belgium supermarkets equipped with transcritical CO 2 systems in 2021 – 17 existing stores and five new – were scheduled to be integrated systems combining refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating.73

This year, Swiss cold storage operator Grünenfelder installed its first integrated CO2 heating and cooling system for a facility in Quartino, replacing an old problematic R507A system with a TotalGreEnergy system from Swiss OEM Biaggini Frigoriferi.74

Integrated transcritical CO2 systems are expected to be implemented widely in Europe, somewhat in Australia, and eventually in North America and Japan. The biggest driver is the energy savings and emissions reduction that comes from leveraging heat reclaim from refrigeration to heat a facility or generate hot water, thereby eliminating fossil-fuel heaters. In addition, by incorporating air-conditioning, the integrated system can reduce overall equipment costs. A caveat is that if an integrated system goes down, all applications would be affected.

The new integrated CO2 system from Biaggini, whose headquarters is located very close to Quartino, services five medium-temperature cold rooms, a 1,000m2 (10,764ft2) low-temperature room at -28°C (-18.4°F) and an unloading ramp. The system will also supply the air-conditioning system and heating. For the heat pump operation, the auxiliary system is using groundwater as the heat source. In Switzerland it is mandatory to use natural refrigerants in systems above 20kW (5.7TR) capacity.

A number of European OEMs offer integrated transcritical CO2 systems. Also in Europe, the MultiPACK project, an EU-sponsored initiative, supported the development of integrated transcritical CO2 systems, particularly in warm climates.72 Launched in 2016, the project was completed in September 2021.