Quebec aids switch to CO2 refrigeration

CANADA: The government of Quebec has allocated $55,500 (€40,000) to help supermarket chain Sobeys switch to CO2 refrigeration systems.

The aid, announced by Orford MP Pierre Reid for a supermarket in Ayer’s Cliff, is paid under the province’s Action Plan on Climate Change.

Sobeys is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Price Chopper, Thrifty Foods and Lawtons Drugs.

Sobeys has pledged to replace R507A with “natural” refrigerants in all new stores. To date, the retailer has installed 40 CO2 refrigeration systems in the Québec region for both low and medium temperature refrigeration applications. 

Sobeys is also recovering heat from the refrigeration systems to use throughout the stores for space and water heating. The installation of leak detection equipment is said to have reduced leaks by more than half and the supermarket is also putting doors on open multi-deck freezers and coolers, a decision that is said to have resulted in energy savings of around 50% per cabinet. LED lighting has also been adopted in a wide variety of applications in both the interior and exterior of Sobeys stores, including frozen and refrigerated food display cases.