Founded in 1994 by Jean-Yves Grandidier, VALOREM started out as a consultancy specialising in the development of renewable energy power plant projects, mainly wind farms. Since 2006, the business has expanded and VALOREM is now positioned as a producer of renewable energy – wind, solar photovoltaic and, more recently, hydroelectric. Over the years, VALOREM has built up the skills and expertise through the creation of subsidiaries responsible for the construction and maintenance of wind farms and renewable energy production plants. The teams handle every stage of the project, from administrative approval to maintenance.
Cryosolar®: a sustainable innovation in dynamic cold storage
The inspiration for Cryosolar® was born out of a visit to Senegal by Jean-Yves Grandidier, VALOREM’s Chairman and Founder, where he noticed a break in the cold chain leading to a lot of wasted food, particularly in the fishing industry, where fish was stored on the wharves. His aim was to be able to provide cooling to isolated areas using a clean, environmentally-friendly process, limiting the need for electrochemical batteries. In 2015, he launched the project for a self-contained cold room in collaboration with refrigeration specialists.
The Cryosolar® concept produces excess cold during the day, which is then stored and returned to the cold room at night, ensuring the cold chain remains unbroken, even when the sun is not shining.
« After a number of prototypes, we came up with this containerised system, which uses photovoltaic energy generated during the day to produce cooling and keep a cold room at the right temperature », explains Jean-Luc Albat, Project Engineer at VALOREM.
Cryosolar® is an autonomous solar-powered cold store. The principle is to produce electricity using photovoltaic solar panels and then operate it as a conventional refrigeration system during the day. A eutectic-based energy storage system is also integrated. At night, the electricity storage batteries charged during the day provide the energy needed to operate the coolant circulation pump (the chiller only operates during the day). When the coolant comes into contact with the eutectic storage, it feeds the heat exchanger to maintain the temperature of the cold room.
The use of eutectic storage (a phase-change fluid) means the temperature of the cold room can be kept constant 24 hours a day, and the size of the cold room can be adapted to the foodstuffs being stored. In the case of fish preservation, the temperature is maintained at +2°C. With this system, it is also possible to preserve frozen foodstuffs at -18°C.
The refrigeration compressor runs on R-290 to produce cooling in the traditional way during the day and at night the cold room runs on a bio-sourced heat transfer network, maintained at the desired temperature thanks to eutectics.
Greenway® Neo N : a responsible choice
As part of its commitment to CSR, VALOREM opted for Greenway® Neo N heat transfer fluid, because of its technical characteristics and plant base (bio-sourced 1,3-propanediol). Greenway® Neo N is NSF HT1 registered and is perfectly suited to food processing applications and operating conditions with eutectic storage. The volume of heat transfer fluid depends on the size of the cold room. For example, a 35m3 container holds 1000 litres of Greenway® Neo N.
The results of the Cryosolar® project
To date, three containers have been produced, financed and installed by VALOREM: one in Guadeloupe and two in Senegal for the storage of fish under ice, and others are planned.