Aria Energy announced the installation of additional capacity at their renewable energy production facility located at Sarasota County’s Central County Solid Waste Disposal Complex in Nokomis, Florida. “The partnership with Aria Energy is another example of how Sarasota County continues efforts toward creating sustainable resources by using energy alternatives,” said Larry Alexander, Sarasota County Solid Waste Division Manager.
The Sarasota County Project is a 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 facility, which began operating in 2015, increased in capacity from 4.8 MW to 6.4 MW. The amount of renewable energy produced at the facility is the equivalent of the electricity needed to supply over 4,000 homes, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates. “We are pleased to continue in our partnership with Sarasota County and JEA to power homes with clean electricity generated from municipal landfill waste,” said Richard DiGia, President and CEO of Aria Energy.
The Sarasota 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.