Torrejón, Spain: SDF Ibérica, a subsidiary of European cold chain logistics firm STEF-TFE, has opened a 15,000sq metre fresh and frozen food site near Madrid – the company says it is the company’s largest transport and logistics site in Spain.
The group invested 23 million euros into the facility, which offers 116,000 cubic metres of temperature controlled storage.
The platform has been built with sustainability at the forefront, including a number of features to optimise energy. It uses a system for storing energy which can be returned over a period of six to eight hours, which STEF-TFE claims is a first in industrial refrigeration. If successful the system will be rolled out to other sites.
The facility also features refrigerants which are designed to minimise the impact on global warming, and LED lighting in the deep freeze to reduce energy consumption.
The site includes three sections: two refrigerated rooms and a deep freeze. The first 12.5m high, refrigerated room is set at two degrees Celsius and offers 47,000 cubic metres of storage, while the second is 14m high and features a 5,750 cubic metre loading wharf for refrigerated goods for cross docking with 40 gates.
The room is currently only being used up to six metres but a mobile ceiling has been installed, which can be moved up to offer extra storage room.
The final room is a 2,500sq metre deep-freeze which is set at minus 27 degree Celsius. The 13.5m high room features mobile racks over half the space, and four mezzanine levels in the other half. Each mezzanine pillar can support 73 tonnes.
SDF has 24 multi-temperature platforms in the Iberian Peninsula, with a total capacity of 960,000 cubic metres of storage, including five in the Madrid region.
Angel Lecanda, chief executive of SDF in Spain, said: “With this new generation site, SDF Madrid becomes a key part of a very comprehensive network in Spain. The platform was designed and built under sustainable development guidelines.”
