Danfoss has started work building what it says will be the supermarket of the future at its headquarters in Nordborg, Denmark.

The building, which will be completed next year, is expected to become one of the world’s most energy-efficient supermarkets. Heat recovery technology will reuse surplus heat from refrigeration to warm the supermarket and local community.

It is being built with energy-efficient refrigeration and heating technology, solar roof panels, and charging points for electric cars.

Instead of allowing the heat produced by cooling cabinets and freezers to go to waste, it will be captured and reused to provide heating for the supermarket and the local community through district energy. The cooling system in the new supermarket will also run on carbon dioxide (CO₂) – a natural refrigerant – which helps reduce the overall climate impact.

Last month, Danfoss hosted the ground-breaking ceremony for the supermarket’s construction.

“This ground-breaking – a much awaited event – is more important than ever,” said Kristian Strand, president for refrigeration and air conditioning at Danfoss. “The origins of this project go back a long time, but the new energy-efficient smart-store supermarket that we are starting to build today has only grown in relevance. The goal of the project is to show how easy and profitable it is to decarbonise our economy and ensure reliable and sustainable energy use. Heating and cooling are the largest energy consumers in supermarkets.”

The supermarket is situated next to Danfoss’ headquarters and will lead the way for how supermarket chains around the world can build climate-friendly and sustainable stores with the technologies that already exist.

Additionally, the site will serve as an application development centre where Danfoss will work with partners to co-develop technologies and explore interfaces in the energy system surrounding energy storage.

“The supermarket will be the focal point for a new part of our campus, where all buildings will be energy efficient and meet special sustainability requirements,” said Jürgen Fischer, president of Danfoss’ climate division. “Our aim is to boost the green transition with concrete evidence of how far we can go with energy efficiency. We want to demonstrate to customers and partners how energy saving works in real life. We want to show the greenest energy is the energy we don’t use or reuse.”

Bals (Brugsen for Als and Sundeved), Denmark’s largest independent supermarket association, will rent the building from Danfoss and will install a Coop 365 discount supermarket. Bals, which works with Coop, has 13 stores in the area around Sønderborg in Denmark and since 2015 has consistently reduced the consumption of energy in its stores. So far, it has cut 44 per cent of its total CO₂ emissions.

“We already have a lot of experience, but the energy price spikes have put further pressure on the need for change,” said Lars Andersen, managing director of Bals. “Our 13 supermarkets have been modernised, and we have nearly no cost for heating in the stores because the heat comes from our freon-free refrigeration systems, solar cells and heat pumps. It is an advantage with the current energy prices, and it reduces our CO₂ emissions.”

Danfoss is establishing a showroom in a part of the supermarket building, where all installations are visible to visitors and customers. Danfoss’ technology for heating and cooling such as CO₂ as a refrigerant, heat recovery and the interaction between installations will thus be experienced while they are in operation.

“Our new smart store shows what is possible with today’s technology, such as our Alsense software,” said Tuuli Sarvilinna, senior vice president at Danfoss. “The integration of hardware and software tools into this store underscores the growing importance digitalisation has for the green transition. Bals is the perfect partner because their employees, neighbours and customers will contribute to this important experience.”

The service part of the building will be handled by Ohmia Retail, a Norwegian partner responsible for the operation and monitoring of all installations.

The supermarket will be connected to Nordals Fjernvarmeværk and will be able to supply surplus heat to the local district heating network.