Sea water project

The Delica site in Meilen uses Lake Zurich water for cooling and heating. In 2021, a new process cooling system was put into operation at the Delica site in Meilen using water from Lake Zurich. Once at the location, the water absorbs part of the heat that is generated during the production of ice cream and baked goods. The water is used for cold air-conditioning water, recooling processes and cooling before it is fed back into the lake. To ensure the water is constantly at the correct temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, it is pumped out of the lake at a depth of 50 meters. With an output of 7,500 kilowatts, it is one of the largest process cooling systems on the shores of Lake Zurich.

Thanks to this project, Delica is a huge step closer to achieving its sustainability goals. The following savings can be made at the Meilen site using this system:

• 20% lower consumption of drinking water – this corresponds to 8 Olympic-sized swimming pools each year
• 3% less energy consumption – this corresponds to the energy consumption of 130 households
• 690 kilograms less synthetic refrigerant in the systems - this has halved the global warming potential of all refrigeration systems at the Meilen site.
• Reduction of natural gas consumption due to the combined recooling system and the planned heat pump
• Waste water savings
• Additional cooling capacity for new production facilities

To ensure the energy absorbed by the lake water does not flow back unused into the lake, it is harnessed for heating purposes in a thermal network. Property owners in the immediate vicinity therefore have the opportunity to replace fossil fuels such as oil or gas with a more climate-friendly solution.