Published 12-08-08
Submitted by Covanta Energy
FORT MYERS, Fla., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The first Energy-from-Waste facility expansion built under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New Source Performance Standards has been named 2008 "Project of the Year" in the renewable energy category by Power Engineeringmagazine.
Working with Lee County, Covanta Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA), added a new unit to the Lee County Resource Recovery Facility. Covanta, a world leader in the development and operation of large scale Energy-from-Waste and other renewable energy projects, completed the facility expansion in October 2007. The $120 million expansion increased the facility's capacity approximately 50%, enabling it to process an additional 636 tons of municipal waste per day. The facility now processes 1,836 tons of municipal solid waste daily, while generating up to 57.3 megawatts of electricity, enough energy to power 36,000 homes.
"We've always believed that Energy-from-Waste is a great source of clean, renewable energy and are honored that the facility expansion has received this award," said Seth Myones, President of Covanta Americas. "This is further proof that the Lee County Board of Commissioners decision to expand the facility six years ago demonstrated visionary leadership. That choice is not only helping Lee County meet increased waste disposal needs, but also helping power the community's future with clean, renewable energy and offsetting greenhouse gases."
Since 1994, the facility had processed more than 5.5 million tons of waste and offset 5.5 million tons of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of planting 127 million trees. In addition, the facility has recycled 145,000 tons of metals from the waste stream.
The expansion project will be featured in the January edition of Power Engineering magazine.
About Covanta
Covanta Energy is a subsidiary of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA), an internationally recognized owner and operator of large-scale Energy-from-Waste and renewable energy projects and a recipient of the Energy Innovator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Covanta’s 38 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities with an environmentally sound solution to their solid waste disposal needs by using that municipal solid waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert approximately 16 million tons of waste into more than 8 million megawatt hours of clean renewable electricity and create 10 billion pounds of steam that are sold to a variety of industries. For more information, visit http://www.covantaholding.com.