Anyone that pays an electric bill knows that cooling measures such as air conditioning and refrigeration require a lot of energy and cost a lot of money. So imagine the energy requirement and expense of running the refrigeration systems found in cold storage warehouses, supermarkets, and food processing facilities where temperature must be maintained at a specific level to avoid product spoilage. It’s a costly operation, but fortunately new technologies are emerging to provide thermal energy management to companies looking to cut refrigeration costs through improved energy efficiency.
At Viking Cold, we optimize existing low temp refrigeration systems using Thermal Energy Storage (TES) solutions which decrease energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions, and saves money. As 2017 starts to shape up, we’ve identified a few energy storage related trends emerging within the cold chain sector.
- Booming Thermal Energy Storage Market
Driven by robust demand for cost-effective thermal energy storage (TES) solutions, forecasts estimate that the booming TES market will reach $1.8 billion by 2020. As commercial customers shift toward renewable energy sources, TES presents a perfect complement to an overall optimization strategy that curbs emissions and cut costs via increased efficiency. Strong growth in TES adoption is projected to come from Europe, followed by the United States. - Full Scale Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Implementation
FSMA mandates a wide range of preventive control standards to improve food safety that require compliance by producers and processors. Having had six years to make the necessary adjustments, this year large businesses that are found to be noncompliant could face stiff penalties. - The Sanitary Transport Rule
As part of FSMA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has introduced a law that holds shippers and carriers responsible for ensuring that proper temperatures are maintained for the duration of food transported within the United States. The shipper must provide proof that it maintained appropriate temperature controls prior to transferring the load to the carrier vehicle. The carrier must provide documentation to the receiver that the food was delivered to the receiving location at the appropriate temperature. Large fleets have until April, 2017, to comply, and small fleets have until April, 2018. - Elimination of Double-charge Barriers In the UK
Look for the government of the United Kingdom to lift barriers holding back greater adoption of storage technologies. In its final report, the U.K.’s Energy and Climate Change Committee recommended removing the current law whereby energy storage is charged during the consumption of electricity it stores and again when supplying it back to the grid resulting in a double charge. Eliminating this rule could save consumers £7 billion ($8.56 billion) a year. - Standardization
A dynamic market for energy storage has emerged as a result of innovative technology, falling component costs, and favorable government policies and regulatory reforms. Heeding lessons learned from the solar industry, the energy storage sector is expected to quickly standardize how system components should be built, perform, and communicate with one another and the grid. The effect of standardization will be faster integration of energy storage solutions and reduced project costs.
No one knows thermal energy storage systems better than Viking Cold Solutions. We’ve saved our clients over 7,500 MWh of energy, reduced over 3,900 metric tons of carbon emissions, and mitigated over $13M of product loss. This year we look forward to providing even greater value to our customers through our revolutionary energy enhancing technology. Learn more about the benefits of groundbreaking TES in refrigeration here.
