Cold room project case study in Poland: Legacy plant replacement in a 1,800-pallet frozen store, Greater Poland
An HFC plant approaching end of life and facing refrigerant phase-down was replaced with a CO₂ system while the store stayed operational.
A 1,800-pallet −18 to −25 °c frozen facility in Poland of roughly 8,100 m³, built with co2 (r744) transcritical or cascade, models at about USD 4,926,566 installed (USD 3,941,253–USD 6,404,536 planning range) and USD 788,262 a year to run, over a 52-week programme from brief to handover. Figures are indicative planning estimates from ColdMatch Group's country cost model — not a quotation.
A senior cold-chain specialist stays with your project from first brief to commissioning.
What was built, and for whom
Moderate humidity — standard defrost and condenser selection
~30 generator hours modelled per year
Local band 0.120–0.190 USD/kWh
Zones
- Frozen store −22 °C, 1,800 pallets
- Chilled dispatch dock +4 °C
- New machine room adjacent to the existing plant room
What a project like this costs in Poland
Derived from the same indicative country cost model used by the public ColdMatch calculators: local construction cost index, design ambient, humidity, grid reliability, diesel price and electricity tariff. Planning-grade estimates, never a quotation.
Planning range USD 3,941,253–USD 6,404,536
USD 608 per m³
66% of it is energy
390 kW average refrigeration load
| Envelope, plant, electrical and installation | USD 4,895,786 |
| Monitoring and alarms | USD 30,780 |
| Total installed | USD 4,926,566 |
| Grid electricity (3,417,054 kWh) | USD 512,558 |
| Standby diesel (2,785 litres) | USD 4,038 |
| Maintenance and spares | USD 141,885 |
| Operations labour (10 staff) | USD 126,000 |
| Monitoring and compliance | USD 3,780 |
| Total per year | USD 788,262 |
Running the same facility on legacy fixed-speed plant models at USD 1,059,160 a year — about USD 270,898 more, which is the efficiency decision this project turned on.
What made this project difficult in Poland
These are the local realities that change the design, the price and the supplier shortlist.
- Store cannot be emptied — changeover must be phased
- F-gas phase-down makes HFC top-ups increasingly expensive
- Energy price volatility makes efficiency the main business case
The decisions that shaped the result
- New CO₂ plant built alongside, then cut over zone by zone
- High-efficiency package with VSD and floating pressure control
- Heat recovery to the office and dock heating circuits
Programme: about 52 weeks from brief to handover
Phases overlap in practice. This sequence shows where the schedule risk sits in this market.
- 1
Brief and feasibility
Weeks 1–3 · 3 weeksProduct, temperature, capacity, site status, electrical supply, budget band and timeline confirmed. ColdMatch reviews the brief and flags missing data before anyone is approached.
- 2
Concept design and RFQ preparation
Weeks 4–7 · 4 weeksZone layout, load estimate, system shortlist and a single bid form so every supplier quotes identical scope, exclusions and assumptions.
- 3
Supplier review and tendering
Weeks 8–13 · 6 weeksSuitable suppliers are approached only after internal approval, then proposals are normalised on scope, energy assumptions, spares, commissioning and warranty.
- 4
Enabling works and shutdown planning
Weeks 14–21 · 8 weeksCondition survey, tie-in plan and shutdown windows agreed with operations so production is not interrupted.
- 5
Equipment manufacture and delivery
Weeks 22–37 · 16 weeksPlant and panel manufacture with delivery sequenced to the installation programme.
- 6
Installation and insulation
Weeks 38–47 · 10 weeksPanel erection, refrigeration pipework, electrical installation and controls.
- 7
Commissioning, pull-down and handover
Weeks 48–52 · 5 weeksLeak and pressure testing, staged pull-down, performance verification against the specified duty, operator training, spares handover and documentation.
What the project delivered
- Refrigerant risk and phase-down exposure removed
- Measured energy reduction against the legacy plant baseline
- Cutover completed without emptying the store
What buyers in this market should take from it
- A phased cutover plan is worth more than a small price difference between bidders
- Baseline the old plant's energy before cutover or you cannot prove the saving
Tools and market data for Poland
Change the capacity, temperature and system and the numbers above move. These tools use the same country model.
Cold storage project costs and timelines in Poland
How ColdMatch Group works — independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform — ColdMatch Group is an independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform for industrial refrigeration, cold storage and cold-chain projects from USD $250K+, connecting buyers with qualified third-party suppliers, EPC contractors and independent financing providers.
Have a comparable project in Poland?
Submit your product type, temperatures, capacity, site status, power situation, budget band and timeline. David and the ColdMatch team review the brief, structure the RFQ so every supplier quotes the same scope, and approach suitable suppliers only after internal approval.
This is a worked project example built from ColdMatch Group's indicative country cost model — local electricity tariff, design ambient, humidity, grid reliability and construction cost index. It is a planning-grade illustration, not a client transaction, an engineering design or a quotation. Supplier and manufacturer listings on this site are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. ColdMatch Group does not provide automatic buyer-supplier introductions. Every cold chain project request is reviewed manually by David / ColdMatch Group, and supplier introductions are made only after internal approval.
Supplier and manufacturer listings are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. ColdMatch Group does not provide automatic buyer-supplier introductions. Every cold chain project request is reviewed manually by David / ColdMatch Group, and supplier introductions are made only after internal approval.