WINETECH Technical Yearbook 2020

Decreasing the cooling cost of cellars

The local supply of electricity stumbles from one failure to another. Load shedding has become a reality in South Africa, but unfortunately not even the supplier knows when it will be implemented. The energy bill of cellars has multiplied over recent years and everything must be done to limit its effect. Cooling fulfils a key role during winemak - ing. It can be utilised during the settling process for juice clarification, cold fermen - tation, cold stabilisation or during the stor- age of wine at low temperature. If cooling during these processes can be decreased it will have a huge influence on the electricity bill of cellars. Although a complete substi- tute for cooling does not necessarily exist, a holistic approach should exist to at least decrease it. It is difficult to replace cooling during cold fermentation, but the later storage of wine at lower temperatures can probably be improved by preventing a temperature rise after the completion of alcoholic fermentation. This can be obtained by using specific building material and isolation. Cement panels with foam isolation can for example be used. Another alternative is the building of cellars completely or partially underground, in which case a proper drainage system must however be designed. Although cooling will still be required, it can be decreased by up to 80%. Evaporation losses can also be limited.

JUNE 2020

CHARL THERON: Private consultant KEYWORDS: Cooling, energy saving

Cooling compressors have a high electricity usage.

Solar panels are one of the ways to save electricity.

WINETECH TECHNICAL YEARBOOK 2020 164