SPAIN
Frioluz Coldstore attracts companies with markets on different continents to the Canary Islands
Serving customers from all over the world A cold store in the port of Las Palmas on the Canary Islands has converted to renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint and its electricity bills.
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ocated about 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula and a mere 250 km off the coast of Africa the Canary Islands are a part of Spain strategically located in the Atlantic Ocean. Strategic, because their proximity to Africa while being part of the EU offers advantages for fishing vessels with cargos destined for both Africa and Europe, as well as for Latin America.
Created from the fusion of two cold store companies Among the companies capitalising on this location is Frioluz, a cold store dealing primarily with the seafood industry. Cold stores are storage areas for products that are already frozen, either on board a vessel or at a land-based facility from where they arrive in a container. Frioluz was formed by the merger in 2019 of two companies, Frigoluz and Spanish Pelagic, to create the largest cold store on the Canary Islands with a capacity of 6,000 sq. m of storage space. Frigoluz was established in 1998, while Spanish Pelagic was founded six years later in 2004. The merged company took over the Spanish Pelagic cold store which is located in Port de la Luz in Las Palmas, the largest port on the Canary Islands. Since the merger Frioluz has renovated the cold store painting the external walls and investing in
solar energy. The latter has been a particularly shrewd decision given the increase in energy prices over the last months. The total amount that went into the renovation was more than EUR4m and it has taken the last two years to accomplish. The solar panels are placed on the roof of the cold store and form the second largest private solar power installation on the Canary Islands, says Segundo Barber, managing director of Frioluz, and the largest one in the port. The investments made by Frioluz were part of an agreement made with the port authorities under which the company’s lease on the cold store was extended by the port to 2036 on the understanding that investments would be made in the facilities. The solar panels are intended to meet the entire energy requirements of the cold store, but the installation is still being fine-tuned, and the technicians are working out its precise capabilities. Although the sun
Nina Ström, the commercial manager, and Segundo Barber, the managing director, of Frioluz Coldstore.
shines brightly and regularly on the Canary Islands (as evidenced by all the fruits and vegetables produced there) generating electricity from the sun also depends on the time of the year, the intensity of the light, the ambient temperature, and other factors. Mr Barber expects the system to have paid for itself within three to four years and possibly even sooner given the high energy prices prevailing at the moment, which have had a
considerable impact on the company. A new contract is due to be signed with the electricity supplier and Mr Barber anticipates a steep hike in prices. He expects however that the solar panels will defray some of the expected increase in energy costs and once the system is completely up and running any excess energy generated can be sent back to the grid, so high electricity prices could benefit the company too.
The Frioluz cold store is located in the port of Las Palmas, the largest port on the Canary Islands, and close to the west coast of Africa.
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