Every little helps at Tesco

14 May, 2005

Among hundreds of Tesco stores to benefit from the energy savings of using variable-speed drives in air-handling systems is Surrey Quays.

Following a 43% reduction in energy used by fans in air-handling systems in Tesco stores in the south of England, the retrofitting of inverter drives in over 350 larger stores is nearing completion. The work is being carried out by Alldales Drive Systems. Lukas Van Vuuren, energy initiatives manager with Tesco, explains that the effect of the inverter drives is to reduce the overall energy use of a store by 2 to 3%. It was on completion of phase 2 of the project that Alldales was asked to analyse potential savings. Based on 24 hour running for 360 days a year, energy savings of 43% were demonstrated. Based on current projections, Alldales expects that a payback within the first eight months is realistic. Lukas Van Vuuren says, ‘The soft-start approach used by the inverter drives eliminates the problem of wear and tear on motors due to current surges arising from conventional methods of operation, where the motor is physically switched on and off.’ Tesco plans to include the technology in all new major food stores.

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