TEL AVIV, Israel, July 14 /PRNewswire/ --
- Unique IDE Refrigeration Technology Responds to Global Snow Shortage as Well As to Additional Applications for District Cooling/ Heating and Deep Mine Cooling
- First Two Snowmakers Sold to Famous Ski Resorts in Switzerland (Zermatt) and Austria (Pitztal) to Become Operational as Early as Fall 2008
IDE Technologies (IDE), equally held by Israel Chemicals of the Israel Corporation and the Delek Group, is enlarging its core operations with the introduction of a unique refrigeration technology that meets the increasing global demand for man-made snow. Relying on its proprietary technology, which is used for additional applications such as thermal energy storage for building and district cooling, district heating, and deep mine cooling, the Company has begun marketing snowmakers to the global ski industry.
The Vacuum Ice Maker (VIM) technology, also known in Israel as the "Zarchin Process" was developed by IDE as early as the 1960s for seawater desalination in Eilat, Israel's southmost city, located in a desert area. Over the past 15 years, IDE has manufactured 10 icemakers for mine and building cooling and district heating, in response to the specific requests of its customers.
In view of increased interest demonstrated in its refrigeration technologies, IDE has proactively ventured into developing additional markets and marketing and sales capabilities for a range of applications worldwide.
Last year, IDE presented its snowmaking technology to representatives of the global ski industry, including leading ski resorts in the Alps. The first two snowmakers were sold to famous ski resorts in Switzerland (Zermatt) and Austria (Pitztal) and are scheduled to be in operation by the fall of 2008. The investment in an IDE snowmaker, exclusive of related costs, is approx. $2 million. In Addition, IDE plans to complete in the course of 2008 the installation of three new VIM units for mine cooling applications in South Africa.
Avshalom Felber, IDE's CEO, commented, "The global snowmaking market alone turns around $1 billion annually. This market accounts for a small portion of the global market for industrial heating and cooling applications which our unique technology addresses with clear economic benefits. We identified significant economic and business potentials in expanding our operations in these sectors, making them one of IDE's key growth engines for the next few years. We seek to capture 5% of the global snowmaking market with our exclusive, innovative applications, which are backed by solid global positioning as an innovative, breakthrough water and Energy Company."
Snowmaking
The accelerated global warming of the past few years has resulted in significantly less snowfall in ski resorts around the world, giving rise to a market for man-made snow. Existing snowmaking technologies are based on the spraying of tiny water drops, which freeze into ice before reaching the ground and depends on the ambient temperature (the weather) being lower than minus 4°C. IDE's snowmaking facilities produce very large quantities of snow regardless of the weather. Consequently, they allow the production of snow early in the ski season, when temperatures are well above minus 4°C. This enables early opening of the ski slopes, extending the ski season and increasing the revenues and profits.
The use of IDE's snowmakers provides significant energy saving as the power consumption is 80% lower than the power consumption of other weather-independent snowmaking technologies (ice production and crushing). IDE is currently completing the installation of a snowmaker machine in Israel for testing its operation and performance before its shipping to a customer in the Alps.
Visit: http://www.ide-tech.com
Contact: Moshe Tessel Marketing Manager IDE Technologies Ltd Tel: +972-9-8929830 moshet@ide-tech.com
Contact: Moshe Tessel, Marketing Manager, IDE Technologies Ltd, Tel: +972-9-8929830, moshet@ide-tech.com
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