Never waste a good opportunity
Tesco Ireland is taking a surprisingly hot approach to cutting both emissions and energy costs — and it all starts at the back of the fridge.
In retail, refrigeration typically ranks as one of the largest single contributors to electricity use. At Tesco, it accounts for up to 50% of a store’s total electricity load. But with chilled food a non-negotiable part of the shopping experience, simply switching off was never going to be an option. So instead of cutting back, Tesco leaned into innovation to tackle these emissions head-on.
From high impact to high efficiency
Historically, many refrigeration systems in retail operated using refrigerants such as R448A — an effective but environmentally damaging gas. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) measures how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific time period. The refrigerant R448A scores at 1,387 meaning that the gas has 1,387 times the warming effect of CO2.
Tesco have moved to a refrigeration system known as R744 bringing the GWP down to just 1. This also reduces refrigeration energy consumption by around 10%. When refrigeration makes up half of the energy load in every store, this equates to a major reduction in overall consumption and cost.
From waste to heat
Fridges work by taking heat out of fridge, not putting cold into the fridge. It’s what you feel when you put your hand behind your fridge at home. Therefore, there is heat waste, often never to be seen again, but not in Tesco.
Tesco’s Maintenance and Energy Management teams now use heat plate exchangers to capture the heat instead. The captured heat is transferred into water, which is stored in thermal buffer vessels on-site and redistributed. This hot water is then reused to heat stores, pumped through low-temperature coils in fan units that disperse warmth where it’s needed most.
In trials, this new process has covered up to 44% of the heating demand in some stores, reducing reliance on gas and lowering emissions in real terms. This shift has led to a drop in the use of natural gas, with corresponding reduction in emissions. It’s not quite enough to heat an entire store, but it is certainly making a positive impact.
From a consumer perspective, this is not the kind of innovation you’ll notice, like our new focaccia pizza or the new additions to our marinated meat selections just in time for BBQ season. But it’s quietly reshaping how we at Tesco do business throughout Ireland and an important step in Tesco achieving their commitments to becoming carbon neutral across our operations by 2035.
As businesses across Ireland face increasing pressure to hit net zero targets, Tesco’s approach could provide a useful, and unusually warm model for the future.
Peter Kennedy
Energy Manager
Tesco
