Every little bit helps in making Frigo Nieuw Vennep more sustainable
The logistical handling of frozen goods flows at Frigo Nieuw-Vennep is becoming increasingly energy efficient. Under the motto “every little bit helps”, further investments were made last summer in making the cold store, which has a capacity of 22,000 pallet spaces, more sustainable.
As a logistics service provider in the frozen food sector, Frigo Nieuw-Vennep is a major consumer of electricity. However, as part of an ambitious sustainability strategy, the family business has managed to significantly reduce its electricity consumption in recent years. ‘This is good for the environment and for our wallet,’ explains Joost van Elderen. ‘The complex on IJweg consists mainly of well-insulated sloping roofs, which are covered with solar panels, but there is also a 4,700 m² flat roof that was in need of renovation.’
Action was taken last summer when the weather conditions were favourable. After the gravel layer had been temporarily removed (see photo), a new, even better insulating and vapour-resistant layer was applied on top of the existing roof covering. Van Elderen: “On top of that, new EPDM roofing was installed, which ensures that the roof is not only well insulated but also 100% waterproof again. As a final step, the gravel layer was returned to the flat roof, which we won’t have to worry about for decades to come.”
Power Quality
As part of its sustainability strategy, Frigo Nieuw-Vennep also partnered with OptiVolt last summer, a company that claims to “improve the electrical infrastructure of large industrial electricity consumers”. ‘Initially, the quality of Frigo Nieuw-Vennep’s electrical infrastructure was investigated and analysed,’ says Van Elderen. ‘This resulted in a number of recommendations for reducing energy consumption.’
OptiVolt refers to this as “improving power quality”. At Frigo Nieuw-Vennep, this resulted in the installation of a device that eliminates so-called “reactive currents”. This helps to increase the efficiency of AC/DC electric motors and improve the power quality of the entire electrical infrastructure. Van Elderen: ‘The deciding factor for us was that this investment also contributes to what we want to be: a frozen food logistics service provider that is not only efficient, customer-friendly, certified and no-nonsense, but also increasingly sustainable.’
About the Frigo Group
Together with Frigo Group Transport (FGT) and Frigo Group Logistics (FGL), Frigo Nieuw-Vennep forms the Frigo Group, which has been the leading logistics service provider in frozen goods since 1973. Within the family business, FGL focuses on the complete logistics handling of frozen and ambient goods flows. FGT specialises in conditioned transport and the transport of steel and machinery, among other things, both domestically and internationally. With Frigo Nieuw-Vennep, the Frigo Group has a modern and sustainable cold store in Nieuw-Vennep with a capacity of 22,000 pallet spaces.