Title
Resolution to Approve a Purchase Order with ARIA Energy for a New Blower Skid for the Landfill Methane Collection System ($178,600.00)
Memorandum
The City of Ann Arbor has a contract with ARIA Energy (formerly known as Landfill Energy Services) to operate the methane gas collection system at the City's closed landfill. This system includes gas wells and piping to collect the gas and a blower skid with motors to extract gas from the wells and deliver it to a turbine generator or a flare. The City owns the gas collection system including the wells, piping, and blower skid with the flare. The turbine is owned by ARIA Energy.
Under the operating contract, Aria Energy agrees to perform maintenance on the system up to $6,000.00 per year with the city covering costs that exceed this dollar limit. ARIA Energy pays the city $1,000.00 per month as a share of the revenue from the electricity generated by the turbine, and these funds are used to fund these maintenance costs.
The existing blower skid, which was installed approximately 20 years ago, has had a series of failures that have kept the system from operating and it has reached its useful life. When the system is not operating for extended periods of time due to equipment failure, methane begins to migrate to the boundaries of the landfill and can be detected at locations along Ellsworth Road on the northerly boundary of the landfill. A separate landfill gas collection system was installed as a precautionary measure on the north side of the landfill. This gas is typically not of combustion quality so it is captured and passed through carbon filters to capture the methane. In addition, when the system is not operational, gas is not collected and energy is not produced. The existing blower skid is no longer reliable and needs to be replaced.
City staff and ARIA Energy identified three options for replacing the aged blower skid. Option #1 consists of purchasing a brand new blower skid with the requir...
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