Viking Cold Solutions, Inc. products

Viking Cold’s Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems allow cold storage operators to cut energy costs up to 50%, better protect food, and improve facility resiliency. By absorbing and consolidating up to 85% of the heat infiltration, TES allows refrigeration systems to be safely cycled off for up to 13 hours each day to avoid demand or time-of-use energy fees while maintaining stable temperatures. In addition to this flexibility, TES systems increase refrigeration system efficiency an average of 26%. Our TES systems easily integrate with existing refrigeration systems, controls, and racking structures and have been installed inside commercial and industrial frozen food warehouses and distribution centers around the world.

Profit margins in the grocery space are razor thin, and researchers at energystar.gov estimate that $1 in energy savings is equivalent to increasing sales by $59. Energy demands in U.S. supermarkets are massive, with refrigeration and lighting accounting for over 50% of total energy use. Each year, the average American supermarket consumes roughly 50 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, and 50 cubic feet of natural gas per square foot. This translates into average annual energy costs of $200,000, and the emission of 1,900 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere–the equivalent of 360 vehicles. Even small grocery stores have significant energy requirements as walk-in freezers experience severe heat infiltration during operating hours, necessitating the consumption of more power to keep foods at the desired temperature.

Why should public and private utilities focus on cold storage facilities? Because they have the #1 highest demand per cubic foot and the #3 highest consumption of any industrial category on the grid. And now there is a customer-located energy storage medium that can handle the formerly inaccessible high demand and continuous refrigeration equipment run time required to operate these facilities. Operators in this industry, which consumes over $30 billion USD worth of electricity annually to keep food cold, now have the flexibility to determine how they purchase, store, and consume that energy.

Solar energy is, by some studies, the cheapest form of electrical energy generation, as well as the cleanest, delivering exceptional benefits for both the planet and for businesses. Yet, in order to maximize the return on solar requires an efficient way to store that energy and flexibility for its future use.

Cold storage construction design and build services require expertise in the intricacies of these very specialized facilities. Refrigerated warehouses, frozen food distribution centers and grocery freezers are the highest energy consuming sector per cubic foot in the world. To help reduce energy consumption and improve facility efficiencies cold storage freezers must be properly designed and built, and they must integrate the most energy-efficient systems available.