Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  February 26, 2019

Bonduelle Fresh Americas to add cogeneration system

Bonduelle Fresh Americas, formerly Ready Pac Foods, today announced investment in and installation of an energy-efficient cogeneration system at the company's Irwindale, Calif. production plant. This integrated system, which will be completed by the end of this year, will simultaneously supply the plant with electricity while using the waste heat to provide chilled water to the facility through an absorption chiller. This system will decrease overall energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the plant's carbon footprint.

"We believe that nature is our future at Bonduelle, and one of our major objectives is to reduce our impact on the environment," said Mary Thompson, Bonduelle Fresh Americas CEO, in a statement. "This cogeneration system, the first of its kind for Bonduelle in North America, is one big step toward producing our fresh salads, meals, and snacks more sustainably."

The statement noted that cogeneration systems are inherently more energy efficient since they are able to manage the production of two energy vectors in a continuous, reliable and safe way. The Irwindale system will be able to self-produce more than 75% of its own energy, reducing the plant's dependence on the local power grid. This reduction has the potential to yield up to an 80% decrease in CO2 emissions and a projected 58 percent decrease in natural gas offsets.

Bonduelle Fresh Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bonduelle has four processing facilities throughout the U.S. The business unit focuses on fresh vegetables, salads and fresh meal solutions for the Americas.