Feds award energy grant for Maine mills

Verso Paper Corporation will receive a $9.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to install waste energy recovery technologies at three of its mills, including two Maine mills in Jay and Bucksport.

The funding  will support 12 waste energy recovery sub-projects, which were chosen for their prospective energy savings and potential for immediate impact.

Nationally, the DOE is awarding more than $155 million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for industrial energy efficiency projects across the country.  According to the DOE, projects will promote the use of combined heat and power, district energy systems, waste energy recovery systems, and energy efficiency initiatives in hospitals, utilities, and industrial sites.

Grants will be leveraged with $634 million in private investment, for a total project value of up to $785 million.  The industrial efficiency projects are projected to save the equivalent of over 112 million gallons of gasoline per year.