Lidl distribution centre in Netherlands opts for ammonia/CO2
On 26 March Lidl opened a new ammonia/CO2 logistics centre for fruit in Moerdijk, in the West Brabant province of the Netherlands.
The cold storage facility will supply 78 national and regional Lidl distribution centres with fruit from the southern Dutch port town, according to logistiek.nl.
“[The] new pearl in the field of logistics,” said Harm van Oorschot, real estate manager at Lidl Nederland, during the opening.
The 25,000 m2 centre is to serve as a space to ripen bananas and other fruit like mangoes and avocados. It has 45 double ripening rooms according to Fresh Plaza.
It also functions as a European hub for frozen products. The ammonia/CO2 booster installation has a capacity of 2.5 MW.
The 33 banana ripening chambers are cooled indirectly with water from the ammonia/CO2 system. While the cold stores use a CO2 pump system to indirectly condition 12 other ripening rooms with a glycol loop system. For freezer food, a CO2 DX system is utilised.
Heat recovery from ammonia/CO2 system is also employed to ripen the fruit, defrost the cold stores, provide heating underfloor for the freezer hall, and heat storage rooms and office spaces.
Solar panels generate most of the electricity and the building is fully equipped with 100% LED lighting.