NOVI, Mich., March 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aria Energy, a leading provider of baseload renewable energy, today announced the beginning of commercial operations and renewable energy production at Sarasota County's Central County Solid Waste Disposal Complex located in Nokomis, Florida.
The Sarasota County Project is a 4.8 MW landfill gas-to-energy facility that produces renewable energy by capturing and processing the methane gas generated at the landfill through organic decomposition. Aria Energy designed, built, owns and operates the facility, and sells the electricity to JEA under a power purchase agreement. The amount of renewable energy produced at the facility is the equivalent of the electricity needed to supply over 2,800 homes, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates.
"We are pleased to partner with Sarasota County and JEA to bring another baseload renewable energy project online and power homes with clean electricity generated from municipal landfill waste," said Richard M. DiGia, President and CEO of Aria Energy. "This facility is a prime example of how municipalities, utilities and the private sector can collaborate to bring clean and reliable renewable energy to their constituents and customers."
According to the EPA, landfill gas-to-energy projects reduce reliance on non-renewable energy resources, such as natural gas, coal or petroleum. The EPA estimates that a 4.8 MW landfill gas-to-energy project reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 236,000 metric tons each year, due to the reduction in methane emissions from the landfill and reduced consumption of fossil fuels. This reduction is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of 26.5 million gallons of gasoline.
The Sarasota County Project is the second Aria Energy owned and operated facility with JEA purchasing the electricity through a power purchase agreement. In 2008, Aria Energy performed design, engineering, equipment procurement and installation, permitting, construction and commissioning of the power generation facility located at the City of Jacksonville's Trail Ridge Landfill. Aria Energy owns and operates the facility and sells its electricity to JEA under a long-term agreement. Aria Energy is the largest provider of landfill gas-to-energy in the state of Florida with a total of 32 MW of installed capacity.
About Aria Energy
Headquartered in Novi, MI, Aria Energy provides baseload renewable energy to utilities and other customers across the United States. Aria Energy owns and/or operates a diversified portfolio of renewable energy projects across 16 states, collectively representing 265.9 MW-equivalent of baseload renewable energy capacity. For additional information, please visit: www.ariaenergy.com.
The majority of Aria Energy is owned by power and energy private equity funds managed by Ares EIF Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE:ARES). For additional information, please visit: http://www.aresmgmt.com/.