Forbes reports that the US cold storage market is due for strong growth in the next few years, and that the logistics, warehousing, and distribution space holds considerable potential for value creation.

In a recent Forbes post describing cold storage opportunities, Mergermarket quotes a report from business consulting firm Grand View Research which calculates that global cold storage market will reach $212.5 billion by 2025, expanding at a compound annual rate of 12.2%. The piece continues to describe how in the US an additional 100 million square feet of cold storage space is needed by 2026 to meet the demands of a growing population and notes that the rise in e-commerce will create additional warehouse demand.

Amid discussion of consolidation and acquisitions within the third-party logistics sector, noting that warehouse and fulfillment M&A has increased over the last few years with 84 transactions announced in 2019, Forbes picked Viking Cold Solutions as a specific example of a technology partner whose thermal energy storage (TES) technology can unlock value within the sector, describing the function of Viking Cold’s long-duration TES as a way to allow cold storage facilities “to be upgraded into virtual power plants”.

Christopher Nolan, managing director of Dresner Partners, notes that the recent pandemic has exposed inefficiencies within the system. Rather than creating short term challenges, COVID has instead created focus on endemic issues, pushing “grocery retailers (to) better see back up the chain and what they’re lacking”, Nolan notes, with new technology and IT as areas with notable potential.

Quoting James Bell, CEO of Viking Cold Solutions, Forbes noted that within the logistics space energy is the second-highest cost, only after labor, and that TES allows distribution companies and power providers to address mounting supply chain and energy challenges.

To read the Forbes Mergermarket post, click here. Or contact us today to learn how Viking Cold’s thermal energy storage solutions can unlock cold storage opportunities for you.

A recent piece on GreetechMedia.com describes how California based third-party logistics provider Dreisbach Enterprises has seen cost savings and performance improvements after installing Viking Cold’s long-duration thermal energy storage (TES) technology.

Jason Dreisbach, the owner of Dreisbach Enterprises, explains why his company selected Viking Cold’s technology from a range of available energy-efficiency and demand-response programs.

“What Viking Cold has allowed us to do is [to avoid] sub-cooling to the degree that we had, and then ride it out for much longer,” he explains in the report. “Instead of six hours, we ride 12 or 13 hours, six days a week, without turning on our more major compressors.” The result is a 22-month payback period instead of 36, with a range of additional benefits – increased employee comfort, reduced operations and maintenance costs, and improved temperature stability.

The Greentech Media piece also discusses the success of TES technology in the San Diego Food Bank. Since installing Viking Cold’s thermal energy storage system, the food bank has been able to shut down compressors overnight and leverage its onsite solar array to power more of the refrigeration during the day while reducing its morning peak to generate energy savings of nearly 40%.

The business landscape for long-duration thermal energy storage is shifting, the story reports. Dozens of utilities now offer incentives to support the installation of TES technologies, the TES market is growing, and Viking Cold’s sales teams see increasing numbers of inbound inquiries.

As James Bell, President and CEO of Viking Cold Solutions, is quoted as saying,  “Down the road, I see this looking like insulation did 100 years ago. Now you wouldn’t even consider a building without insulation. Going forward, why would anyone build a temperature-controlled facility without the efficiency and resiliency of TES?”

To read the full story, click here. Or contact us today to learn how our long-duration storage solution will save you energy and money.

Viking Cold has been included by Food Engineering in an article looking at leading innovators in the field of food refrigeration.

The Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system at the core of Viking Cold’s offering was incorporated within the industry title’s selection of new and exciting methods for temperature-controlled management of refrigerated and frozen foods.

Alongside mentions for Messer and Tippmann Innovation, the piece highlighted the growth in demand for TES as increasing numbers of processors and cold storage providers understand the energy-efficiency and cost-saving benefits that TES can bring.

Collin Coker, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, underlined the untapped potential for high energy users to “wring out more value with thermal energy storage”, using the system’s intelligence controls to reduce consumption at peak periods or when pricing levels are at a premium.

The benefits of TES listed by Food Engineering included that fact that it is environmentally friendly while providing a highly efficient, stable and resilient environment for protecting food products.

Coker went on to explain the versatility and low maintenance demands of the system, with the ability to install cells on top of racking in a diverse range of food environments, from smaller processors and walk-in freezers up to larger distribution centers.

At a Dreyer’s Ice Cream facility for Nestlé with a two-pallet position racking system and a lower roof, for example, cells could be incorporated into the design of the ceiling.

“They (the cells) sit up there. They do their thing. They act as a very sophisticated heat sink. There’s no mechanical interface or requirements,” Coker said.

Food Engineering is a monthly magazine and associated website that cover manufacturing technologies in the areas of processing, packaging, food safety, plant operations, material handling and automation.

Contact us for more information on how Thermal Energy Storage can bring greater control and cost-savings to your food processing environment.

The logistics industry is facing a record shortage of labor to fill warehouse and trucking roles. Are there ways to fund talent acquisition and still maintain profits?  Can other hidden savings in operations be unearthed to help find and retain this talent?  Read a recent Supply Chain Dive article explaining how TES technology is helping some logistics providers find new funding sources inside their operations.

Power Magazine‘s Darrell Proctor interviewed CEO James Bell after Viking Cold was awarded the Cleanie Platinum Project of the Year Award. James discusses the award-winning project with Massachusetts utility Eversource as well as other benefits beyond storing energy for time-of-use avoidance. He covers how long-duration Thermal Energy Storage also provides reduced mechanical run-time and wear and tear, sustainability improvements, and resiliency for food during extreme weather events or other power outages.

Viking Cold is delighted to have been recognised as a winner at the 2019 EI Awards, which showcase excellence across the energy sector.

The Viking Cold Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system won in the Innovative Technology category at the prestigious event, which is organised by the Energy Institute.

Viking Cold was presented with the award at a gala dinner held at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane Hotel in London’s Mayfair on November 7, hosted by Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, co-founder of Stemettes.

The award acknowledged how TES is helping companies across the world introduce efficiencies and reduce costs in energy-intensive cold chain environments.

Winners are decided by an independent panel of senior energy experts, led by chairman of the judges Stephen Burgin FEI, director of Offshore Wind Growth Partnership.

The panel said of Viking Cold: “Incentivized by energy utilities across the U.S and in use around the world, the company delivers cost-effective and flexible thermal energy management solutions which preserve food, save energy and help reduce environmental impact.”

For two decades, the EI Awards have celebrated “the most outstanding people, products and initiatives from across the global energy sector”. In particular, it recognises those making the industry safer, cleaner and more sustainable, and champions new initiatives that can impact positively on society.

To learn more about what Viking Cold’s award-winning Thermal Energy Storage technology can do for your business, please get in touch.

Energy is one of the most expensive ingredients in frozen foods. What changes in the electricity market are changing to favor the industry and why? What technologies can enable new energy strategies to take advantage of these changes to avoid costs and actually generate revenue streams? Find out these answers and more in FoodDive’s article that discusses why utilities are incentivizing energy efficiency and energy storage technologies for the frozen food industry.

The annual Energy Storage North America Innovation Awards recognize excellence and impact in energy storage project development. Our Eversource Demand Management Project that installed 1.3 MW of behind-the-meter storage was a finalist in the Behind-the-Meter category in 2019.

Viking Cold is honored to be the Platinum Winner of The Cleanie Awards Project of the Year for our storage and demand management project with Massachusetts utility Eversource. The awards program recognizes innovation excellence, business leadership, and superior programs within the cleantech and renewable energy sectors. The project involved the installation and commissioning of TES systems to store refrigeration energy and facilitate 1.3 MW of energy demand reduction across eight customer facilities, without requiring any additional real estate for the system components. The average size of the cold storage facilities in the program is approximately 50,000 square feet, with the largest being 157,000 square feet. The end-user customers of the program included Sysco (the world’s largest foodservice distributor), Americold (the world’s largest third-party cold storage company), Greater Boston Food Bank, and multiple frozen food processing companies.

ASHRAE Journal, the official publication of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, has published an article outlining the resiliency benefits of thermal energy storage (TES) in commercial and industrial refrigeration applications. Temperature controlled food storage facilities have a number of risks that come from the increasing number of extreme weather-related power outages or from refrigeration system breakdowns. The ASHRAE article also describes additional benefits such as energy efficiency, improved temperature stability, and increased energy management options for facilities with TES.