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MADISON

Energy facility on agenda tonight

By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

MADISON -- Residents will learn tonight about the possibility of Madison Paper Industries adding a $25-million wood biomass energy facility at its site.

Anticipated to add eight to 10 jobs, the facility would use bark byproducts and would reduce the paper mill's reliance on oil, said Brandon Ogilvie, vice president of IN Madison LLC, which would own and operate the site. It is a subsidiary of IN Group, located in Richmond, Va.

A public hearing, which is a required part of the company's permit process with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, will start at 7 p.m. at the Madison Area Junior High School's auditorium, located at 205 Main St.

The mill currently uses oil-fired boilers to produce energy for paper production. The project would add a wood-fired boiler into the system, striking about half of the mill's oil intake.

"It connects into the same steam distribution system that they have today. Just instead of producing steam from oil, it's producing steam from wood," Ogilvie said.

The boiler would burn tree parts not used in paper-making: bark, tree tops and tree branches.

Currently, logs are trucked to the mill, and the bark is stripped off them. The bark is then trucked out for other uses, such as for mulch.

The wood-fired boiler, however, would utilize the bark -- what Ogilvie called a "carbon-neutral" byproduct.

Additional tree tops and branches would likely be trucked in during the winter when more wood products would be needed, he said, but there would be no net increase in truck traffic.

In addition to the eight to ten jobs at the facility, he said he also anticipates that about a dozen additional woods-working jobs would be created.

"I think it's a great thing," Town Manager Norman Dean said. "They'll be able to reduce their reliance on oil, and I think that's good. They'll be burning their bark, so I don't see any downside."

The project is estimated to have a total capital cost of between $20 and $25 million. "The more investment we have, the less people will have to pay. It spreads out the taxes," Dean said.

The facility to house the boiler would likely be located down river from Madison Paper Industries and would have a driveway connecting to Kennebec Street. Ogilvie said he hopes the company will break ground in early 2011, with construction lasting about a year.

The 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot building for the boiler would be located on a two-acre parcel that is currently used for parking trailers, Ogilvie said. There would be additional storage space for the wood products.

The mill would act as IN Madison LLC's customer. The company would meter and invoice the mill in a long-term, energy-supply agreement.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@centralmaine.com