Refrigeration market updates on condensing units

The refrigeration market stands at a pivotal moment, driven by a confluence of technological advancements, stringent regulatory standards, and an ever-increasing global demand for efficient cooling solutions. From monoblock, cased to uncased units used in commercial refrigeration applications, BSRIA’s latest research examines the landscape of condensing units in the United Kingdom, North America (USA & Canada) and Mexico.

The trends affecting the market across both sides of the Atlantic indicate that similar forces influence the value chain, whether it is the needs for energy efficiency improvements, concerns over the environment, the importance of containing maintenance costs or the lack of clarity at regulatory level. The intensity of each one of them and the pace of implementation vary though in each country. Other discrepancies for instance by capacity of the units are visible too.

All-in-all, we see the market continue to maintain a positive trend in all the countries researched, driven largely by the replacement of systems. While the surge in energy prices has cooled down from the post-Covid crisis, energy savings remain high on the agenda of facility managers and refrigeration manufacturers.

In today’s refrigeration market, the retail sector accounts for more than two thirds of the sales of condensing units. Refrigeration systems account for 40–60% supermarkets’ total energy consumption.

Despite that, the use of large, centralised direct-expansion (DX) refrigeration rack systems running on R-404A are still very popular. The tendency is to move towards a distributed architecture, based on a mix of remote condensing units and self-contained appliances, but retrofitting comes at a cost. Owners and operators must ensure their investment delivers long-term viability and returns to their bottom line.

Another aspect of retrofit is driven by policy and the move away from high-GWP refrigerants. At BSRIA, we study how HFO/HFC blends, and natural refrigerants are gaining ground in the long term, and how it affects the type of compressor used in CU.

This article appears on the BSRIA news and blog site as 'Refrigeration markets: UK, North America, and Mexico – updates on Condensing Units' dated July, 2024.

--BSRIA

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