Pedavena Brewery

The client

The Pedavena Brewery is one of Italy’s most iconic brewing companies. Founded in 1897 at the foot of the Dolomites, it is now part of the Birra Castello Group and represents a benchmark for the production of high-quality lager beers. Its history is deeply connected to innovation: as early as the 1920s, the company adopted ammonia refrigeration systems derived from the first technologies developed by Carl von Linde, anticipating the sector’s evolution by decades.

The challenge

The Pedavena plant required a radical upgrade of its refrigeration system in order to:

• increase energy efficiency in a highly cold-intensive production process
• reduce electricity consumption and operating costs
• recover and valorize waste heat generated by internal combustion engines used for on-site power generation
• adopt environmentally friendly technologies compliant with future regulations
• improve operational safety by reducing ammonia charge

The objective was clear: transform a historic plant into a modern, sustainable, and high-performance system without compromising production continuity.

The Zudek solution

Zudek developed a tailor-made project based exclusively on natural refrigerants, integrating two key technologies:

1. Enermatik – Ammonia absorption unit (installed in 2022)

• uses waste heat from internal combustion engines to produce cooling
• employs glycol as a secondary fluid, reducing ammonia charge and simplifying authorization procedures
• uses water from the adjacent river, returning it at the same intake temperature and eliminating thermal impact on the environment

2. Ecomatik – Water-cooled ammonia chiller (installed in 2024)

• optimizes energy consumption during peak demand
• ensures maximum efficiency thanks to ammonia’s excellent thermodynamic properties
• integrates advanced control logic to adapt to different operating conditions

The entire system was designed to operate in synergy, maximizing energy recovery and minimizing waste.

Why ammonia

Ammonia is a natural refrigerant with unique characteristics:

• zero ODP and zero GWP
• high energy efficiency due to its excellent heat transfer capability
• reduced operating costs
• stable availability and not subject to phase-out
• future-proof solution with respect to F-Gas regulations and PFAS restrictions

For a brewery with significant energy consumption, ammonia represents a concrete competitive advantage.

The results

Zudek’s intervention enabled the Pedavena Brewery to achieve measurable benefits:

• energy consumption reduction of 20–35% thanks to the efficiency of the ammonia cycle
• waste heat recovery and consequent reduction in operating costs
• reduced environmental impact through the exclusive use of natural refrigerants
• increased safety thanks to the low ammonia charge of the absorber
• ROI between 4 and 6 years, with annual returns exceeding 20%

The brewery now operates with a modern, sustainable refrigeration system fully integrated with its energy strategy.

In an increasingly digital world, where energy demand is rising and sustainability is a priority, smart cooling is no longer optional, it’s essential.