Danfoss Opens Another 'Smart Store' Innovation

Image courtesy of Danfoss

Danfoss opened the doors to the Application Development Center within the ‘Smart Store’ supermarket, which is part of a full Decarbonization Park, including innovation centers for applications such as heat pumps, heat recovery, district heating networks and data centers. The new Application Development Center will allow the cooling and heating industry to access test facilities and support for field-testing new components and cloud technologies for small and large applications.

The company has built a new Smart Store supermarket at its headquarters for climate-friendly food retail with energy-efficient heating and cooling technologies. The store is expected to be 50% more energy efficient than a traditional store, and 90% of the space heating needs for the entire store will be provided by a heat recovery unit that captures excess heat produced by the cooling systems. The supermarket has two refrigeration systems that run independently so product testing does not interfere with the supermarket's operations.

Refrigeration is a delicate balance. If you use too much cooling, you waste energy; if you use too little, you risk food loss. With smart controls and digital monitoring, retailers can optimize capacity and demand, promptly responding to anomalies and preventing energy and food losses. Managed by Danfoss and ANEO Retail’s partnership, the store and its service model, energy as a service (EaaS), allows grocery stores to subscribe to technical facilities as a service, reducing their operational expenses and time spent on issue management. The concept allows supermarkets to implement energy-efficient equipment without large investments and high up-front costs. The store’s refrigeration and comfort cooling systems run on natural refrigerants (CO2), with the lowest global warming potential score.

The celebration was an open house event for Danfoss partners and customers who have contributed to the site. Peder Gabrielsen from the European Environment Agency offered a keynote speech and a site tour of the event led by Danfoss's leadership. Interested organizations can now get in touch to schedule their own site visit.

Join the editorial staff of FE and Refrigerated & Frozen Foods as we share how business is doing, what’s affecting business, and where companies are spending money, if at all.

This R&FF webinar will focus on an overall look at the “state of the industry,” with a research and statistical focus on some of the consumer trends driving product development, as well as a look at the cold storage landscape and how F&B manufacturers and processors can best work with third-party logistics (3PLS) and cold storage providers.