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PT_BR 
As reported by Solar Channel, O retail market has invested more and more resources in energy efficiency projects. Lojas Cem, Magazine Luiza and Assaí Atacadista are some of the companies that are seeking to save money and promote sustainability.
Following this premise, Carrefour-Atacadão decided to invest, last year, in the intralogistics structure to keep its 240 stores constantly supplied with resources that contribute to the reduction of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
Thus, it announced that it has modernized the battery charging rooms at DCs (distribution centers) with equipment compatible with different models of electric forklifts in its fleet.
The solution, developed by Fronius' Perfect Charging division, made it possible to increase charging and unloading operations and promoted a reduction of 25% in electricity costs.
The group, which has a fleet of more than a thousand forklifts powered by different powers and sizes, used battery chargers from Fronius' Selectiva 4.0 range of 2 kW and 8 kW lead-acid.
“Selectiva chargers allow faster charging and, as a result, we have machines working for longer,” said Marco Tarantino, maintenance manager at Atacadão.
The executive also highlighted that such equipment has minimal heating during the first minutes of charging, which contributed to increasing the useful life of the batteries by around one year and reduced maintenance.
Mariana Kroker, commercial manager of the Perfect Charging division at Fronius, explained that these differences are due to Ri charging technology – an effective internal resistance system, which checks the battery's charge level.
“Based on the evaluation, it carries out adequate charging by providing the amount of electrical current that it really needs. This significantly reduces electricity consumption and CO₂ emissions in intralogistics”, he highlighted.
Another point highlighted by Fronius is that the Carrefour-Atacadão project was also designed to optimize spaces and, consequently, increase energy efficiency. “As the charger is much smaller, we were able to expand the capacity of the battery rooms and cover two shifts of operation”, concluded Tarantino.
