ALDI Süd receives 100,000th Bitzer CO2 compressor

German retail giant ALDI Süd has taken delivery of the 100,000^th Bitzer CO₂ compressor.

Bitzer's Erik Bucher (left) presents a model of a reciprocating compressor and a certificate to Jens Strassburg of ALDI Süd.

German retail giant ALDI Süd has taken delivery of the 100,000^th Bitzer CO₂ compressor, cementing its position as a pioneering adopter of transcritical CO₂ systems.

ALDI Süd has been investing exclusively in CO₂ transcritical systems for its stores since the beginning of 2006. Thus far 1,350 stores have been equipped with reciprocating compressors for transcritical CO ₂applications.

Erik Bucher, director of refrigeration sales at Bitzer, was on hand to able to present ALDI Süd with the 100,000th CO₂ compressor to be produced by the company, headquartered in Sindelfingen, Germany.

“We’ve maintained a long-standing partnership based on trust with ALDI Süd,” said Bucher. “I can confidently call our customer a pioneer, as they are also partly responsible for the fact that installations with CO ₂ as a refrigerant are now one of the most common standards in the EU.”

Jens Strassburg, director – store operations management at ALDI Süd – said: “We’re always on the lookout for solutions that will allow us to operate our display cabinets and refrigeration systems more efficiently, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using the right refrigerant, and minimise our impact on the environment.”

“We’ve dedicated ourselves to operating with a focus on the future,” Strassburg said. “Even if that means we have to invest more for a certain period of time. However, energy savings ultimately serve as proof of a short amortisation period and high investment security.”

“

We’re always on the lookout for solutions that will allow us to operate our display cabinets and refrigeration systems more efficiently, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using the right refrigerant, and minimise our impact on the environment.”
– Jens Strassburg, ALDI Süd

Designed for operation with frequency inverters, Bizter’s reciprocating compressors for transcritical CO₂ applications improve efficiency by offering flexible and step-less capacity control.

This is particularly important when it comes to the capacity characteristic of CO₂ systems: step-less capacity control can minimise suction pressure fluctuations and cycling rates, which in turn reduces energy costs, according to Bitzer.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to work closely with ALDI Süd in the years to come,” said Bucher.

In parallel, the German food retail giant is installing hydrocarbon-based cabinets – since 2016, all its newly installed stand-alone units have operated on 100% propane.