SCM Frigo sees opportunities for CO2 in Spain, Portugal
Alessandro Franchin, export area manager at SCM Frigo, reports growing demand in southern European markets as CO2 refrigeration technology develops.
As technological improvements continue to bring CO2 transcritical technology to warmer climates than previously considered viable, Alessandro Franchin – area export manager at SCM Frigo for Central Europe, Spain, Portugal and Ireland – reports impressive growth in the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
“There has been a lot of movement and more requests in Spain than a year ago”, Franchin told R744.com at EuroShop 2017.
He cites growing public awareness of technological advances in CO2 as one of the main reasons the market has begun to pick up.
One SCM Frigo installation in Portugal, using parallel compression, will be completed in March, and the company has received requests for more.
In Spain, taxes on HFCs have also helped SCM Frigo to introduce the technology.
Ejectors could push CO2 technology further
The ejector, long heralded as the answer to making CO2 transcritical technology efficient enough to cope in higher ambient temperature climates, could also help push CO2 further.
“We are testing a liquid-vapour ejector at the moment in a Luxembourg supermarket,” Franchin said.
Once it has received results in April, SCM Frigo plans to use it in more installations.