People

Everything began in 1991, when Engineer Gianni Candio decided to design large semi-hermetic reciprocating refrigeration compressors and, starting from 1995, he became the first in Italy to manufacture semi-hermetic screw compressors. Thanks to the foresight of this entrepreneur, a company was established in Lonigo, in the province of Vicenza, which rapidly gained recognition in the international industrial refrigeration market. The technological research carried out by the company in Lonigo reached its peak in 2008, when RefComp Spa introduced the world’s first screw compressor with integrated inverter technology.

Foreseeing that the economic landscape would increasingly be driven by globalization, especially in emerging and lesser-known markets such as China, in 2005 our visionary Engineer founded the commercial and manufacturing branch RefComp Shanghai Ltd in order to better serve the Asian market.

Thanks to this strategy, the RefComp brand established itself in China as a leading premium-quality brand, enabling the company to sell more than 7,000 screw compressors per year on the local market

In 2013, the unfavorable international financial climate also affected RefComp, which, despite its previous success, found itself needing to seek a partner interested in the immense technological know-how accumulated over the years by the company based in Lonigo. As a result, the company was acquired by an Asian group that chose to focus primarily on its domestic market, leaving European customer service and support largely uncovered.

From this new vision, RefPower Srl was founded in 2014 as a multi-service company dedicated to the world of semi-hermetic compressors, with the mission of guaranteeing global customers 360-degree, tailor-made support and assistance.

This time, the Engineer did not start alone: he was supported by a loyal team of collaborators and joined by his children — a new generation ready to take the helm of this mission while carrying forward their father’s legacy

Since the founding of RefPower, the company has undergone significant transformation: it has strengthened through a growing team of qualified and motivated professionals, expanded into multi-brand service activities, and built strategic partnerships with other companies in the sector, including DunAn, for which it became the official and exclusive distributor in Italy

Driven by the innovation embedded in its DNA, RefPower’s engineering core returned to action and, in 2020, launched Palladio onto the market — an innovative twin-screw compressor with integrated inverter technology, featuring Italian-made design and engineering. The goal was to offer European and international manufacturers a valid alternative to the only existing producer of screw compressors with integrated inverter technology.

In 2022, RefPower became the official Italian distributor of Bock refrigeration compressors. The challenge was to introduce the Italian market to Bock’s range of semi-hermetic and open-type reciprocating refrigeration compressors, from small to medium and large capacities, manufactured by the German company specialized in developing environmentally sustainable solutions for refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, and heat recovery systems.

This continuous virtuous growth reached a major milestone in 2023, when RefPower signed an exclusive agreement with Danfoss for the worldwide distribution of Palladio compressors under the “Trusted by Danfoss” brand. In the same year, Palladio Compressors began operating independently, becoming a standalone company specifically dedicated to the development and production of high-efficiency screw compressors with innovative design, including the new Qubo and Pocket series. 

The synergy with the Danish giant Danfoss further strengthened when RefPower was officially appointed as a certified service partner within the Bock RefCare program and the TASP (Turbocor Approved Service Providers) network for the maintenance of Danfoss Turbocor® compressors.