R744.com is pleased to announce its first African Partner, Commercial Refrigeration Services Ltd. is based in Johannesburg and is currently the only manufacturer of CO2 heat pumps and chillers in Africa.
Amongst CRS’s long-standing clients are Makro and Woolworths. With the use of R22 banned in South Africa, national retailers are investing in new-generation refrigeration technologies that will be future-proof to any future legislation. CRS has installed transcritical CO2 systems across 50 Woolworths and Makro stores of which 47 are transcritical and three subcritical.
CRS will be showcasing a series of products and case studies on R744.com, proving the viability of CO2 technologies in a developing market for natural refrigerants. In addition, CRS is revealing - emphatically - the viability of CO2 transcritical systems in high ambient temperatures, with 47 installations situated in the so-called ‘non-transcritical operational zone’.
The company is currently manufacturing systems for a store that already has two racks, one will utilize parallel compression, the other a CO2 booster.
In 2015, Clean Energy Africa (CEA) joined Commercial Refrigeration Services as the majority stakeholder. CEA develops and invests in alternative energy solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and together with CRS are striving to push the boundaries of energy-efficiency.
CRS was founded in 1976 and initially focused on refrigeration installations using the latest technology. The company soon became a forerunner in energy-efficient cooling and heating, and following industry changing breakthroughs, its first CO2-only refrigeration system was launched in 2010. The drive to create the best CO2 solution in Africa for Africa led to further improvements and CRS’s first booster system in 2012.