Trigeneration from biomass for an Eroski supermarket in Vitoria

Eroski has presented its supermarket project that advances towards energy self-sufficiency and that develops in collaboration with the National Center for Renewable Energies (CENER) as a technological center in charge of the technical coordination. It is a pioneer project in EurOPA that will have an innovative trigeneration system capable of supplying electricity, heat and cold from biomass of local origin, drastically reducing the consumption from the electricity grid.

The general secretary of EROSKI, Mikel Larrea, together with the technical director of the project at CENER, Sergio Diaz de Garayo, have conveyed to the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Gorka Urtaran, the work schedule for the execution of the pilot project in the EROSKI store/ center Ali Gobeo that the cooperative has in the capital of Álava that starts this month and will conclude in mid-2016.

 “Moving towards sustainable construction is one of the fundamental objectives of Eroski's strategic Environmental plan, in order to reduce the environmental impact of our activity. In 2012 we developed the first 100% Sustainable Zero Emissions store and now we are addressing a new generation of sustainable store whose main objective is to demonstrate the viability of a comprehensive and innovative solution for the modernization of supermarkets in order to achieve a drastic reduction in dependency. connection to the electrical grid with a relevant improvement in reducing the environmental impact,” stated the general secretary of Eroski I, Mikel Larrea.

The definition of the project began in 2013, and it is now when the execution of the works in the Eroski Ali Government of the Alava capital starts. In addition to implementing the energy savings measures that have already been developed in the previous Eroski Eco-Sten Most advanced Supermarket of EurOPA in terms of energy self -sufficiency.

“This project represents a direct saving of 494 MWh of electricity per year, that is, a reduction of 178 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The transformative potential of the project will not only be in the construction of new supermarkets but, above all, in the energy eco-reform of existing ones. It pursues savings in electricity consumption of more than 25% with energy efficiency measures, which is then completed with a 100% renewable energy trigeneration unit based on biomass as a primary source," detailed the technical director of the CENER project, Sergio Diaz de Garayo.

In a traditional supermarket, approximately 55% of the energy is intended for the production of cold through electrical compressors. This project develops an innovative trigeneration system by combining three very different technologies that work together: biomass, absorption and cogeneration, capable of supply Integrated biomass, using residual heat for heating. All this equipment will be installed in such a way that it guarantees the flexibility of the system and its subsequent extension to future facilities in other supermarkets. Applied in shops and supermarkets in EurOPA, it is estimated that the project would allow a reduction of up to 2.4% of the electrical consumption of the continent.