Sanden to expand CO2 in Europe

FRANCE: Japanese CO2 refrigeration equipment manufacturer Sanden has expanded its operations in Europe, opening a new branch in Brittany.

The office in Rennes will build on the success of Sanden’s European CO2 heat pump range, launched in 2011 and expand the market for CO2 solutions in EMEA.

Sanden Environmental Solutions (SES) will be dedicated to product planning, marketing and sales for CO2 modules and systems. SES will market CO2 as a refrigerant in comfort heating solutions and commercial refrigeration for convenience stores up to 25kW.

Next year, Sanden plans to enter the European commercial refrigeration market and complete its first CO2 installation for a major retailer. The company already has a number of products available in Japan and several products in the testing phase. These include both remote cooling units and plug-in systems. These will be adapted to the European market, and are suited to smaller format shops such as convenience stores.

By 2018 Sanden plans to reach a turnover of €150m with the major business area (over 50% of revenue) being comfort heating, and the remainder to come from retail and other new sectors.

Operational since 15 July, the new office is only 20 km from the manufacturing and development site, allowing for smooth coordination and planning, for a quick market response.

Today the company already manufactures a range of technologies adapted for different markets, including Japanese Eco-Cute heat pump, also sold in Australia; SandenVendo vending machines, available worldwide and three models of AquaECO2 heat pump water heater sold in Europe, including a model that combines space heating, available since 2013.

Other planned application areas in the future include CO2 heat pump dryers and industrial coolers.