GTI Koudetechniek will start up an innovative new refrigerating system for fruit storage company MetNooij (H.M. de Jong) of Ridderkerk on May 10, 2007. GTI will deliver an air distribution system that cools using a combination of carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia (NH3) for the customer's huge fruit coldstore. This combination has the advantage that it is economical, more environment-friendly and safer. It also significantly reduces costs. GTI was brought into the project early on account of its expertise and earlier pioneering work in using this relatively new refrigerant. The contract is worth approximately €2 million for GTI.

Coldstore
The fruit storage company occupies a site of 1.2 ha. The coldstore covers 100,000 m³, with storerooms 20 m high. Between 10,000 and 15,000 pallets of fruit are transported automatically to seven cranes within the storerooms. Cooling and air distribution must satisfy stringent requirements due to the enormous size of the coldstores and because "living" products are handled. The technology used must safeguard the quality of the products. For this project GTI examined which refrigerating system would produce the best results at the lowest operating costs. Factors GTI took into account included the environment, energy, investment costs and maintenance. Using CO2 has several benefits compared with traditional refrigerants like Freon and CFCs and HCFCs. The benefits include lower energy costs, product-friendly refrigeration and no structural damage. The investment costs were a disadvantage of CO2. However, the substantially lower energy costs will amply compensate for the approximate 10% higher investment required for this project. The EC awarded a subsidy to the project on account of the innovative nature of the design.

Pioneering work
GTI started this pioneering approach in 2000 and developed knowledge for the use of CO2 as a refrigerant. To date the company has put 30 similar cooling systems into service, at customers including Grolleman Coldstore in Apeldoorn, Southeast Frozen bv in Urk, Aardappelverwerkende Industrie Aviko and 4 Fruit Company. The ultramodern high-rise coldstore at H.M. de Jong in Ridderkerk, called 'MetNooij O.G. Ridderkerk', will be added to GTI's list on 10 May 2007.

Over the past sixty years H.M. de Jong Koel- en Vrieshuis B.V. has developed into one of the best cooling and refrigerating companies in the Netherlands. The company operates a site of 1.2 ha located in the centre of the Netherlands adjacent to the A12 motorway. The core business of H.M. de Jong Koel- en Vrieshuis B.V. is the conditioning of foods, including domestic hard fruit (apples and pears), foreign fruit, berries, exotic fruit, garlic, citrus fruits, dairy products (cheese and butter), French fries and numerous other products.
H.M. de Jong Koel- en Vrieshuis B.V. is a company that puts food safety first. The company maintains in-house information and knowledge of refrigeration so as to deliver high-quality conditioning systems.

Together with the companies Axima, Elyo, ENDEL, INEO, Tractebel Engineering and Fabricom GTI, GTI is part of SUEZ Energy Services.

SUEZ Energy Services, European leader in installation and technical services, develops value added solutions for its clients in the industry, the building services and the infrastructure as for design, realization and maintenance of technical installations along with energy management and long-term multi-technical management. SUEZ Energy Services employs 66,000 people and achieved revenues of € 10,7 billion in 2006. SUEZ Energy Services is one of the four business lines of the international industrial group SUEZ. SUEZ's stocks are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

More information for the press is available from
GTI NV
Leen Geschiere
Corporate Marketing and Communications
Kosterijland 50, 3981 AJ Bunnik; PO Box 210, 3980 CE Bunnik, the Netherlands
Telephone: 030 656 94 00; Mobile: 06 20 24 61 53; Fax: 030 656 94 15;
E-mail: info@gti-group.com; Internet: www.gti-group.com