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Energy consumption measurements of CO₂/NH3 cascade refrigeration systems catering for Hungarian supermarkets reveal energy savings of more than 30% when compared to an R404a air cooled system installed at store of the same size.

Refrigeration design and contracting company QPLAN Refrigeration has installed four CO₂/NH₃ refrigeration systems for Tesco and Auchan stores in Hungary.

The latest system installed by the company is a CO₂/NH₃ cascade system catering for a 15,000m² Auchan store that opened its doors in March 2009 in Maglód, a town located in the Budapest metropolitan area. The contractor has been monitoring the energy consumption of the 700kW/80kW system between April and September 2009 to find that the system realised energy savings between 35% in the month of July and 38% in the month of June, compared to a same size R404a air cooled hypermarket in Pilis, Hungary.

An NH₃/CO₂ cascade system with the same capacity has also been operating at a 15,000m² Auchan store in the town of Miskolc since November 2008. Energy consumption measurements of this system indicated savings between 34% (for the months of April, May and September) and 38% (in June) when compared to a same size R404a air cooled hypermarket in Pilis.

Apart from installations in Auchan stores, the Hungarian contracting company has also installed CO₂/NH₃ cascade systems in two Tesco stores: since summer 2006, an 360kW/48kW CO₂/NH₃ cascade systems has been operating at an 10,000m² store in Miskolc, while a 180kW/24kW systems has been catering for a 3,000 Tesco store in the town of Balassagyarmat.