Thermal energy export from supermarket refrigeration systems: Drivers and barriers

Abstract

Supermarket refrigeration systems offer the possibility to recover significant amounts of energy. These amounts may at times be higher than what the supermarket needs. In these cases, export of heat or air conditioning to neighboring buildings is a solution for increased overall energy efficiency. However, although previous studies have demonstrated the technical viability of such systems, they are rarely implemented in practice. In this work, possible barriers to and drivers of implementation of thermal energy export from supermarkets are investigated. The empirical work consists of a mixed-method data collection and in-depth analysis of six case studies of supermarkets that are in a research collaboration project between the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and CIT Energy Management in Gothenburg, Sweden. The main findings indicate that several barriers, especially the split economic incentives of supermarkets and property owners and a lack of information, have significant detrimental effects on the uptake of thermal energy export solutions. Cooperative agreements between supermarkets and property owners are found to have the greatest possibility to mitigate the impact of the barriers, but standardized templates are needed to reduce their associated legal, technical, and administrative uncertainties.