Lidl Moerdijk: Europe's largest banana ripening facility
For the new Lidl distribution center, Nijssen realized the energy-efficient refrigeration and freezing system based on natural refrigerants. With this, Nijssen makes an important contribution to the sustainable character of this new Lidl distribution center in Moerdijk.
The 25,000 m2 distribution center has 45 double ripening rooms for bananas and exotics. This makes it Europe's largest and most sustainable ripening for bananas, mangos and avocados. The new location is intended for the distribution of fruit to all Dutch and Belgian subsidiaries. It also serves as a European hub for frozen products. Nijssen realized an ammonia / CO2 booster installation with a capacity of 2.5 MW.
Three temperature circuits
Nijssen uses three temperature circuits to condition the various rooms as energy-efficient as possible. Expedition, engine room, switch room and 33 banana ripening chambers are cooled on the basis of water. For the cold stores, a CO2 pump system is used that indirectly conditions the 12 ripening rooms for exotics on the basis of glycol. A CO2 DX installation is used for the freezer hall. With this design a higher COP value is realized. This means lower energy and consumption costs, year after year.
Heat recovery
The installation of Nijssen ensures that the heat from the refrigeration and freezing system is recovered as much as possible and reused. Condensation heat from the compressed gases of the ammonia plant and the CO2 DX system is stored via heat exchangers in a buffer vessel with water that also indirectly warms up a glycol mixture. The collected heat is used for ripening, for defrosting the cold stores, for underfloor heating of the freezer hall and heating of storage rooms and office spaces. In order to dissipate the excess heat, we opted for energetically favorable hybrid heating condensers. At low outside temperatures, they function as air-cooled. These condensers require considerably less roof space, leaving more room for the generation of solar energy.
Energy-saving control system
The installation is controlled by the Nijssen Control system with user-friendly visualization. The weather-dependent and capacity-dependent dynamic control system guarantees extra energy savings.
Sustainability is key
Various other measures also increase the sustainability of the new distribution center. The use of heat storage makes a gas connection unnecessary, solar panels generate as much energy as possible and the building is fully equipped with 100% LED lighting. The choice of location in Moerdijk optimizes transport movements to the locations and thus reduces CO2 emissions.
Completion: early 2018
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