A green energy company is evaluating Santa Rosa County industrial sites for a possible location to build a $400 million waste to energy plant.
National Energy, a local energy technologies business, was contracted by the ALFA Group to do site selection, and certification and feasibility studies for a number of green energy parks the company wants to build throughout the country. Dave Robau, CEO of National Energy, said the ALFA Group is looking to bring eight facilities online over the next 10 years.
Robau and members of the executive team from ALFA Group worked with Santa Rosa County economic development staff this week to evaluate sites and gave a short presentation to the county commission during Thursday’s meeting.
“We have been evaluating locations in Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida,” said Robau, a Santa Rosa County resident. “Somewhat selfishly, I selected Santa Rosa County as a potential candidate because this facility represents a $400 million investment on the part of ALFA Group.”
County Commissioner Don Salter encouraged the ALFA Group to continue to work with the county’s economic development department, but the commission did not take any action on the plant.
The waste to energy plant would be designed to burn up to 2,000 pounds of waste a day and convert it to energy. ALFA’s reactors burn waste at temperatures ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 degrees in oxygen-starved chambers. According to ALFA, their emissions would be 98 percent below Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Environmental Protection requirements.
The plant would employ an estimated 1,700 to 2,500 for two years during the project’s construction and an addition 90 to 110 permanent positions are expected once it is completed.
“In the future, if everything goes well, we would like to work with the community for the long term,” said Oscar Padilla, CEO of the ALFA Group.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Green company could bring 90-110 jobs