International. The Euro Tunnel, which stretches for 50.45 kilometres from the south of England to the north of France, was cooled with the technology of the company Trane.
Without 24/7 cooling, the heat generated by high-speed trains passing through the Channel Tunnel would lead to indoor temperatures above 35°C. That is the maximum to execute trips in optimal conditions.
With the installation of the cooling systems, the tunnel operator, Euro Túnel, released official data demonstrating an energy saving of 33% after the first season of operation of its new Trane cooling system.
Thanks to the new system, the Euro Tunnel saved 4.8 GWh and approximately €500,000 in 2017, which equates to saving enough electricity to run 1,000 homes in Europe.
Powered by four large-capacity CenTraVac chillers (2600 kW to 14,000 kW), the Series E, are 10% more energy efficient machines than the next best chiller available in this size, the Trane system keeps the tunnel's ambient temperature at 25°C. Two of the chillers have been in operation in Sangatte, France, since 2016, and the remaining units in Shakespeare Cliff, U.K., since late October 2017.
"The E-Series is part of our EcoWise product portfolio designed to reduce environmental impact with state-of-the-art low-GWG refrigerants and high-efficiency operation, consistent with our climate commitment to introduce products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said José La Loggia, vice president and general manager of Trane in Europe. "These chillers have been successfully used in various applications across Europe and have helped our customers achieve operational savings while reducing their environmental footprint, without compromising safety, reliability and performance."
