/Food retail/
hile other industrialized economies like the European Union and the U.S. are imposing regulations that support the adoption of natural refrigerant systems, Australia has yet to follow suit.
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That leaves Australia’s two largest food retailers, Woolworths and Coles – who share close to 80% of the market – with a sizeable role to play in setting the sustainable agenda. “I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t true,” said Michael Englebright, Woolworths’ national engineering manager during an interview amid the serene surrounds of Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria. “It’s really up to the big players in the industry here in Australia. We’d love to see the government regulating the industry and providing subsidies, but if we have to wait for that, then our store fleets will be nearing their end of life. We’ve got to be proactive and get on the front foot and steer the way with a rigorous strategy and program.” And getting on with it is exactly what Woolworths has done. Based in Bella Vista, New South Wales, Woolworths Limited (no connection to the U.S. company F.W. Woolworths, now known as Foot Locker) has wide-ranging outlets, including 873 Woolworths supermarkets in Australia and 160 Countdown stores in New Zealand. The company also operates Caltex Woolworths (gas stations), Dan Murphy’s and BWS (liquor chains), Masters (home improvement), Big W (general merchandise) and ALH (hotel and gambling). Its Woolworths supermarket chain has over 150 CO2 cascade installations -- its current “business as usual” technology – but Englebright is eager to implement CO2-only waterloop display cases and
CO2 transcritical systems. Currently, the company has five transcritical store systems (and three industrial systems) running in Australia and one in New Zealand that was installed in March, as well as one store with a waterloop CO2 condensing unit. The end game is to adopt transcritical technology, but that can be a difficult proposition in Australia given its warm climate. Still, the five installed systems “haven’t missed a beat,” said Englebright. “So as the technology continues to develop for us, it’s a no-brainer for the future.” With the commercial sector’s long history of using CO2 subcritical systems in Australia – including expertise in technology, maintenance and training -- a market-wide move to CO2 transcritical would be a “logical transition,” said Englebright. The declining costs of subcritical systems suggest a similar trajectory for transcritical systems as the latter’s volume grows.
CO2’S EVOLUTION DOWN UNDER Englebright remembers vividly the unrest in the industry back in 2004 when he was starting out with Australian contractor Frigrite. “It was getting repetitive that every 5-6 years we’d have to go through another phase of transitioning out [refrigerants] and retrofitting stores.” While at Frigrite, Englebright worked on Australia’s first full CO2 liquid recirculation system, an experience he described as “a huge stepping stone in my career.” For two years, Englebright monitored the store, including maintenance and energy performance.
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June 2016 Accelerate America
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