Green issues influence new refrigeration systems

“Activity has picked up tremendously in comparison with last year,” says Ilse van der Merwe of GEA Refrigeration Africa, speaking from the Cape Town headquarters of the firm that engineers and designs refrigeration systems and facilities making use of these systems. “We’ve seen the perishable warehousing industry demonstrate quite a bit of growth, and the prospects are looking good for the rest of the year,” she said. “We deal with the entire country and we have seen a number of larger firms like supermarket chains making substantial investments in their logistics networks through the construction of refrigerated distribution centres over the past year or two. Smaller distributors are also constructing distribution centres for their goods,” said Van der Merwe. “In our transport division we are consolidating the refrigeration units on the market now to fewer numbers that make the selection easier and more cost efficient for the customer,” Van der Merwe said. These vehicles are also using recently introduced environmentally friendly refrigerants. The logistics industry demand for green products is also reflected in other product lines. “We have also consolidated our models on the industrial side. Our new V series compressor range offers 20% more cooling capacity in terms of the same energy usage as earlier models,” Van der Merwe noted.