Stabilising Power Supply For The Indian Cold Storage Sector

A recent survey found that the Indian cold storage market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.00% by 2022 driven by the growth in the organized retail, Indian fast food market, food processing industry, and e-commerce sectors.

This puts India’s cold storage market at an expected worth of US$ 10 billion by end of 2022. The prime objective is to protect the vegetables and fruits by extending their life. Cold storages are of immense importance. They are essential for storing food products by keeping the product nutrients well intact and reducing the overall farm wastage.

After the labour employed at a cold storage processing unit, electricity is the second biggest operational component of cold storage investment cost. As power is essential to create a freezing environment, the cold storage business heavily depends on power. That means that a cold storage facility always has its power switched on irrespective of the season, month or any time of the year.

Cold Storage In The Indian Tropical Climate

Any increase in temperature of the unit and all the produce will spoil and decompose. Infestation from bacteria and other micro-organisms is sped up with a temperature increase. Therefore, the need for a continuous supply of power to fulfill the power needs.

The location of cold storage units is most often in the outskirts of the cities. Because of this, a constant power supply is not always guaranteed. Storage unit owners need to ensure backup power with diesel generators. These generators will additionally burden the unit with a huge cost. Not to mention the pollution and inconvenience that they add along the way.

However, without these generators, the food does not stand a chance to remain fit for consumption. So, what can be done? Can the DG set be eliminated? This is the right question. Keeping in mind the current situation of continuing power cuts, it seems this would not be possible.

Power Source And Supply

Now, let’s change that question a little. Can the useful yet troublesome DG be supported with a more sustainable and advanced device for power supply and backup? This answer solves more than one problem.

When we look at the power shortage, a cold storage unit faces, it is not just one simple problem but a mix of issues, i.e. power cut or blackout and low voltage.

• A power cut is a simple problem, as when there is no power the compressors will switch off and the cooling will stop. The solution for this situation is simply to switch on the DG set.
• The second problem of low voltage is a little more complex, as technically, electricity is present, but the compressors switch off since they can operate only if the input voltage is available in a set band.

This requires the cold storage unit owners to run the DG set during low voltage times as well.

Smart Solutions To Stabilise Power

A smart solution to this problem will be to use a Servo Stabilizer. For cold storage units, this has a multi-fold purpose. Firstly, it will protect the compressor during times of low voltage and prevent it from getting burnt out. Secondly, the Servo Stabilizer can ensure the operation of the compressor even during times of low voltage. This ensures huge cost savings for the unit owner as the number of hours that a DG set is used will be reduced considerably, reducing the amount of diesel fuel being used and purchased.

Get in touch with Fuji Electric experts for an innovative, advanced power supply and backup solutions for agriculture, production, manufacturing, and more…