Americold
Americold is a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics and real estate, with a more than 120-year legacy of innovation and reliability. With more than 230 facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America, totaling approximately 1.5 billion refrigerated cubic feet, Americold ensures the safe, efficient movement of refrigerated products worldwide.
Serving the Global Food Supply Chain
Americold’s facilities are an integral part of the global food supply chain, connecting producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and food service providers with tailored, value-added services. From frozen vegetables and dairy products to fresh meats and packaged goods, their temperature-controlled infrastructure ensures products are safely stored, handled, and transported across responsive and reliable supply chains. Leveraging deep industry expertise, smart technology, and sustainable practices, Americold delivers world-class service that creates lasting value for our customers and the communities we serve.
Ireland
Throughout Ireland, Americold operates several facilities, including Lurgan, Dublin, Castleblaney and Lough Egish. These sites provide comprehensive coverage for Irish food producers and manufacturers, with services including blast freezing, chilled and frozen storage, ambient storage, packing, order picking and distribution. The Lough Egish facility can store 20,000 pallets and serves industries such as meat and poultry, dairy, bakery, retail and food service.
Americold's Irish network offers a wide range of product-specific value-added services, with the flexibility to always customize solutions to meet customer needs. From blast freezing and -28C deep frozen storage up to ambient storage, product packing lines, distribution support and even a weigh bridge, their local team is here to support your growth.
Retrofit project
At the heart of the food logistics landscape in Ireland lies Americold’s strategically positioned site in Lough Egish Food Park, County Monaghan. This facility plays a vital role in preserving the cold chain for a broad array of temperature-sensitive goods, ranging from meat and poultry to dairy, baked products, fruits, vegetables and retail food service items.
Within this operation, two critical freezer rooms, Rooms 7 and 8, house a combined storage capacity of 20,000 pallets, ensuring the freshness and safety of essential food products. Despite their operational reliability, these rooms relied on legacy evaporator fans installed in 1993, which over time had become a major source of energy inefficiency.
Americold’s Pauric Connolly, leveraging his deep experience in refrigeration, identified the opportunity to reduce energy consumption and operational costs. In response, the company began exploring solutions to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and modernize its operations without compromising performance.
The Solution
To address this challenge, Americold partnered with ZIEHL-ABEGG Ireland Ltd, a leader in fan and air movement technology, alongside Renihan Refrigeration, a trusted refrigeration contractor based in County Cavan. Together, they developed a tailormade fan retrofit project to upgrade the evaporator systems in both freezer rooms.
This initiative is a strong example of how Americold’s commitment to innovation and sustainability comes to life. By investing in advanced energy-efficient technologies, the company supports its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, actively working
to reduce its carbon footprint, operational waste, and energy use. Projects like this are key steps in Americold’s journey toward longterm decarbonization and a resilient cold chain infrastructure.
“This retrofit reflects our broader strategy to modernize Americold’s infrastructure while advancing our ESG commitments. By investing in energyefficient technologies, we’re not only improving operational performance but also reinforcing our responsibility to reduce environmental impact across our global network.”
Brian Dunn, SVP, Facilities & Engineering, Americold
This successful collaboration illustrates the value of shared expertise, innovation and mutual trust. ZIEHL-ABEGG, with its in-depth knowledge of air movement and refrigeration systems, offers more than just components, it delivers smart, future-ready solutions tailored to customer needs.
The Project
Room 7
• Original configuration: 4 evaporators, each equipped with 4 legacy 4.0 kW motors (total of 16 fans).
• Upgraded system: Replaced with 16 ZIEHL-ABEGG EC fans (model ZN063-ZIL.GL.V7P3, 3.4 kW each).
• Technological advantages: Incorporation of FE2owlet biomimetic blades for enhanced airflow and noise reduction. Fans capable of -25°C operation, with superior efficiency and reliability.
Room 8
• Original configuration: 4 evaporators, each fitted with 5 legacy 1.5 kW motors (total of 20 fans).
• Upgraded system: Replaced with 20 ZIEHL-ABEGG EC fans (same model, ZN063-ZIL.GL.V7P3, but with 1.85 kW motors).
• Special adaptations: Equipped with -35°C low-temperature bearings to ensure consistent performance in ultra-cold environments.
Highlights
€70,000 annual energy savings
50% energy savings
The retrofit delivered more than just energy savings. Noise levels in the facility were noticeably reduced, creating a quieter and more comfortable environment for staff. Improved airflow control ensured consistent temperature distribution, enhancing product quality. The new fans also increased system reliability and reduced the risk of downtime. Crucially, the upgrade meets the latest ErP Directive and complies with multiple international standards.
“When we looked closely at the energy profile of Rooms 7 and 8, it was clear the legacy fans were holding us back. There was an opportunity to make a smart investment in the long-term efficiency and reliability of the site. Collaborating with Ziehl-Abegg and Renihan allowed us to tailor the solution to our operational needs and set a new standard for performance at Lough Egish.”
– Pauric Connolly, Americold
“This project demonstrates how advanced fan technology, combined with deep industry expertise, can lead to realworld improvements.
We’re proud to support Americold in their journey towards decarbonization and energy efficiency.’’
— Patrick Smith, ZIEHL-ABEGG Ireland Ltd.
