Logistics · Esbjerg, Denmark · 2024
A harbour cold store that keeps its peaks off the grid
Site plan
Nordhavn Cold Chain
Esbjerg, Denmark
- Solar array, 1,650 kWp
- Battery, 1,000 kWh
- Trees and planting kept
- Completed
- 2024
- Drawn by
- Lumora engineering
- System size
- 1,650 kWp
- Yearly generation
- 1,568 MWh
- Saved a year
- €321,000
- Payback
- 5.5 years
- CO₂ avoided a year
- 611 t
01The challenge
Nordhavn's freezers run around the clock at minus 25 °C. Defrost cycles and lorries plugging in their reefer units created short, sharp peaks that set the site's capacity charge for the whole month. The halls sit on the quay, in wind and salt air.
02What we built
We fitted a south-facing array with salt-air rated rails and fixings and a 1 MWh battery that watches the main meter every second. When defrost cycles and reefers stack up, the battery covers the top of the peak. The rest of the time it stores the midday surplus for the night.
03The result
Almost all of the 1,568 MWh a year is used on site. The highest monthly peak fell from 1.9 MW to 1.3 MW, and the capacity charge with it.
How the project ran
Assessment
May 2023
Second-by-second metering for a month to see the defrost and reefer peaks.
Design
June to August 2023
Corrosion class review, wind load calculation and a battery control plan written for the freezers.
Installation
October 2023 to February 2024
Roof work in weather windows, battery set on the landside of the halls.
Monitoring
From March 2024
Peak shaving tuned through the first summer as reefer traffic changed.
The battery takes the edge off our night peaks and nobody on site has to think about it.
Site assessment
A site like Nordhavn Cold Chain's? Let us look at yours.
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