Cool Up Programme and the UNDP Provide Natural Refrigerants Training to Technicians in Turkey

The Cool Up Programme, part of the German government’s International Climate Initiative, and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) recently hosted a natural refrigerants training event for technicians in Ankara, Turkey.

The content: The training was both practical and theoretical in nature, and the topics covered included the features, applications, safety measures and service procedures of natural refrigerant systems.

• Cool Up told NaturalRefrigerants.com that the said the trainings, which were also offered to manufacturers, focused on refrigeration and cooling equipment using CO₂ (R744) and “flammable natural refrigerant alternatives.”
• Cool Up specified that “special attention” was given to national regulations, risk mitigation, including “addressing potential risks such as ignition sources and refrigerant leakage;” and best practices in technical services.

The need for training: METRO, an international food wholesaler, highlighted the need for natural refrigerants training in Turkey during a March 2024 interview with NaturalRefrigerants.com.

• Olaf Schulze, Director of Energy Management and Real Estate Sustainability at METRO Properties, said a shortage of trained technicians has prevented the company from installing CO₂(R744) refrigeration systems at its stores in the country.
• “Our local team did not find an installer who is able to install CO₂ technology or offer solid maintenance and repair [M&R],” said Schulze, who noted that the company did plan to install plug-in R290 freezers in its Turkey stores.
  
• Cool Up said seven trainings have been held in Turkey in 2024.

Turkey in transition: Turkey ratified the Kigali Amendment in 2021, and in October the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change implemented a new f-gas regulation it said “has been prepared within the framework of harmonization with the European Union legislation.”

• The new regulation addresses labeling, leakage control and mandatory training for personnel managing fluorinated gases but does not make any mention of f-gas bans.

A global effort: In addition to Cool Up and the UNDP, many other organizations are hosting natural refrigerant training events for technicians in emerging markets for these systems.

• Commercial refrigeration systems manufacturer Epta opened a new CO₂ training center in Manila, the Philippines, in October 2024 to serve the APAC region.
• The GIZ, through its Green Cooling Initiative (GCI), conducted a series of R290 training courses in Vietnam during the summer of 2024.
• Carrier and the GIZ, a German international development organization, established the “first-ever” East African transcritical CO₂ training center in October 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.

This story has been updated with additional information from the Cool Up Programme.