Refrigerated Warehouses

General refrigerated storage capacity in the United States totaled 3.21 billion gross cubic feet on October 1, 2005, up 2 percent from two years earlier. The five states with the largest gross general warehouse capacity (in million cubic feet) were: California with 399; Florida, 253; Washington, 195; Wisconsin, 179; and Texas with 153.1

Public refrigerated warehouse (PRW) space in the U.S. totaled 2.44 billion gross cubic feet in 2005, accounting from 76 percent of the general storage. Public general storage capacity increased 3 percent since 2003 and is 40 percent above the capacity of in 1995. Private and semi-private general warehouse capacity totaled 772 million gross cubic feet, or 24 percent of the general gross refrigerated space.1

Refrigerated warehouse facilities operate in different fashions depending on whether they offer public or private refrigerated space. Public general storage facilities typically store food for clients at a stated unit rate. Private general storage facilities exist to facilitate an operator's role - often that of a producer, processor or manufacturer of refrigerated food products. Semi-private facilities store an operator's products in addition to offering storage space to outside clients. All facilities attempt to turn product over quickly, aiming for "just-in-time" delivery.2

Most refrigerated warehouse facilities have loading docks, and nearly all have interiors divided into cooler space and freezer space. Cooler space temperatures may range from 0 to 50 degrees F, while freezer space temperatures range from -5 degrees F to -30 degrees F. Among all operators, freezer space occupies 78% of total warehouse area; cooler space fills the remaining 22%.2

The role of refrigerated warehouses is to hold product stored by manufacturers before it is transferred to grocers and other frozen food retailers. In addition to offering storage space, many warehouses expand their revenues by offering distribution services for both domestic and international customers.2

Although the refrigerated warehouse industry experienced its period of consolidation from mergers led by real estate activity over the past fifteen years, expansion of cold storage facilities is ongoing. Increased demand for frozen food should carry the industry into the next decade, and improving storage and distribution techniques should amplify margins significantly. Overall, slow and steady growth is expected, especially as technology standards continue to improve.2

Public Refrigerated Warehousing by U.S. State

Source: USDA, "Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses," January 2004

Refrigerated Warehousing Industry in the Gulf Coast Region

State	Public	Private & Semi-Private	Total
LA	16	9	25
OK	7	4	11
TX	33	30	63
Total	56	43	99

Source: USDA, "Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses - 2005 Summary," January 2006

Successful use of CHP technologies in refrigerated warehouses, as in other applications, depends on whether the facility can use the waste heat efficiently. According to a January 2000 report titled "The Market and Technical Potential for Combined Heat and Power in the Commercial/Institutional Sector, the use of absorption cooling and/or desiccant dehumidification provides a base load thermal load that opens these facilities to CHP.

This same report also estimates the size range of a typical CHP system for a refrigerated warehouse to be between 300 kW and 5 MW in capacity. Using this range we can estimate the technical potential for refrigerated warehouses in the Gulf Coast Region to be between 30 MW and 500 MW in total capacity.