Lidl in Belgium

German-owned international discount chain Lidl has built a new distribution centre in Belgium. It features a refrigeration and freezing facility more than 15,000 square metres in size to ensure that fresh and frozen products are stored in appropriate conditions. Fire alarm systems from Securiton ensure the early detection of fires in these challenging environments.

Lidl’s new distribution centre, built in the Magnapark Garocentre area in La Louvière, Belgium in summer 2022, boasts one very special feature: the energy requirements are met exclusively with wind and solar energy. The distribution centre itself is more than 41,000 square metres in size and employs around 235 people. Loading and unloading takes place at over 100 docks; up to 60 Lidl branches are supplied from there. This means that 2500 pallets arrive or leave La Louvière every day. Overall storage capacity totals 30,000 pallets.

Securiton’s local partner The Belgian (thebelgian.be) equipped the cold rooms with a fire detection system specially conceived for such conditions: SecuriSmoke ASD 535 aspirating smoke detectors. The cold storage buildings operate at temperatures down to -20°C, which poses a particular challenge for fire alarm systems. One of the most important factors in Lidl’s decision to go for the ASD detectors is their ability to withstand sub-zero temperatures as low as -30°C. This is, of course, is a decisive argument in their favour when it comes to cold storage environments. The Lidl distribution centre in Belgium is equipped with 136 SecuriSmoke ASD 535s for very large monitoring areas and ten SecuriSmoke ASD 531s for more compact areas.