What if water became the most efficient and eco-friendly way to generate cooling? That’s the bet of AlpinovX, a France-based startup founded in 2007 by three engineers who came up with the idea of using water as a refrigerant.
While chemical refrigerants like perfluorocarbons can be up to 1,000 times more polluting than exhaust gases, water offers decisive advantages: it’s non-toxic, non-flammable, and more energy-efficient, with potential gains ranging from 10 to 30%. Grenoble-based AlpinovX spent several years on R&D to develop its solution. Its cooling system will soon be deployed on a district cooling network in the Paris region, with support from ENGIE. The Group is backing the startup through its ENGIE New Ventures fund.
With 23 employees and 22 million euros raised, AlpinovX is eyeing a massive market. The fundamentals are strong: demand for cooling is booming, and environmental regulations are tightening. “In the medium term, water could become the gold standard for industrial cooling,” says Thomas de Charentenay, the company’s Head of Marketing and Sales. Could water become the new blue gold of industrial refrigeration?