Swedish Stores Install R290 Water-Loop System

Freor system serves chillers and freezers throughout the ICA Sweden stores.

ICA Sweden Haga store in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Several renovated ICA Sweden grocery stores have installed propane (290) cases with a water (glycol) loop throughout their stores, according to Freor, a Lithuanian manufacturer that supplied the refrigeration.

ICA Sweden has around 1,300 stores and a market share of about 36%, Each store is owned and operated by independent ICA retailers, “which makes it possible to tailor store concepts to local clients’ needs and also get benefits from the economy of scale the ICA group has to offer,” said Freor on its website.

Between 2006 and 2020, ICA Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 76%. As part of its sustainability goals, the store focused on energy-efficiency improvement and a gradual switch to renewable energy and refrigerants with a smaller carbon footprint.

The refurbished stores are using Freor’s Green Wave line of self-contained R290 refrigerated display showcases, including chillers for meat, dairy, pre-packed product and frozen food sections. The cases are connected to a Hydroloop system, through which a glycol solution is circulated within a closed loop using an externally located water pump and dry cooler for excess heat removal. The waste heat from cooling units can also be used to heat a store during the cold months of the year.

The individual cabinets operate independently with their own digital controllers to achieve their preset temperature.

Green thinker

Installation of the Hydroloop system was carried out by Freor partner company Coolfors Sweden, which Freor calls a “green thinker” with extensive expertise in refrigeration technologies.

The Hydroloop system is “easy to install, requires minimal maintenance, takes up little space – thus no machinery room is needed,” said Freor. Freor manufactured the pump station that ensures the circulation of glycol within the system. Freor’s R290 Hydroloop system is installed in many countries throughout Europe, including at a COOP store in the Netherlands, which opened in July 2020.

Last Year, Freor moved to a new 16,300m² (175,450ft²) headquarters facility near Vilnius, Lithuania, that will enable a “substantially” increased production to better meet growing global demand, the company said. Freor has been producing R290 equipment since 2015.