Isra-Mart srl:Sainsbury's checks out smart grid device for national rollout

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Isra-mart srl news:

Just days after announcing that it has been trialling innovative smart grid technology in one of its stores, supermarket giant Sainsbury's has confirmed that it has installed dynamic demand management technology in 200 outlets.

The retailer had conducted trials of the technology in three stores in the South East and, following a successful pilot period, the company is rolling out the technology in a further 200 supermarkets across the country after signing a 10-year deal with UK smart grid start-up RLtec.

The start up said the move will save an estimated 10,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year as part of Sainsbury's goal of cutting emissions 25 per cent by 2012.

RLtec said its technology would boost Sainsbury's energy efficiency by managing the power consumption of its heating and ventilation systems, ensuring that when appropriate they are powered down.

The company's device responds automatically to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid and aligns the timing of the heating and cooling systems to match them.

RLtec predicts that if rolled out widely, the technology will reduce the need for backup power which would otherwise be required to balance out variable renewable energy output. This reserve typically uses coal or gas power stations that offer predictable, but carbon-intensive, energy.

It added that large-scale deployment of the system could save two million tonnes of CO2 per year in the UK alone.

The Sainsbury's deal represents the first wide-scale rollout of the technology anywhere in the world and follows on from a contract with Hotpoint/Indesit to install the equipment in more than 1,000 fridges nationwide.

"The fact that dynamic demand can so easily be fitted to such a huge range of appliances across all sectors, from the domestic to the industrial and commercial, makes it a vital tool in our efforts to tackle climate change," said RLtec managing director Paul Lazarevic.

"With no behavioural change necessary on the part of the consumer or business and no disruption to performance as a result of its installation, it is a simple and effective solution that delivers for customers and the environment alike."