New owners plan upgrade of steam plant Greenville company to keep all workers, increase capacity

GREENVILLE – A multimillion-dollar investment in Greenville Steam Co. is planned over the next nine months by the company’s new owners.

New Energy Capital Corp., which holds a majority interest in the company, a 16-megawatt biomass-fired operating power generation facility, acquired the plant from Hafslund U.S.A. Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hafslund ASA of Norway.

“I am excited to be working with New Energy Capital as we write a new chapter in the life of the Greenville Steam Company,” Ray Kusche, president of Greenville Steam Co. Operations, said in a press release. “This investment will be good for our employees at the facility, good for the town of Greenville, good for Maine, and good for our environment.”

“We’re delighted the company has invested in the steam plant,” Greenville Town Manager John Simko said Monday. “This will help us to realize some of the plans for the future of the Greenville Industrial Park,” which is nearby, he said. He also said he was pleased that the quality jobs will be retained by local people.

Scott Hersey, general manager of the steam plant, also is pleased with the sale.

“We had a lot of uncertainty with the energy markets in general and the ownership issue since the company has been for sale for some time, and this gets rid of that uncertainty,” he said Monday. Pleased with the company’s background, he said, “They have a solid business plan to make improvements in order to meet new markets.”

Hersey said the 24 people who work at Greenville Steam Co. will remain with the new company. About 30 positions will be created during the construction, according to company officials.

New Energy Capital Corp. spokesman Dan Reicher said the refurbishment and upgrade of the Greenville plant will improve performance, increase generating capacity and reduce emissions. Those improvements will allow the facility to qualify as a “New Renewable Generating Unit” under Massachusetts regulations, making it eligible to sell “Renewable Energy Certificates” to other utility companies and establishing Greenville as an important source of renewable energy for the New England market, he said in a prepared press release.

Contacted on Monday, Reicher said that the plant is permitted to operate in Maine, but the improvements will open up the market to utilities in Massachusetts as well.

“The refurbishment and upgrade will significantly reduce plant emissions, allowing Greenville Steam Company to help fill the growing demand for clean, renewable energy in the Northeast,” Scott Brown, chief executive officer of New Energy Capital, said in a prepared statement. “We are fortunate to inherit an excellent management team and work force, and we appreciate the support that the state of Maine and the commonwealth of Massachusetts are providing to maintain jobs and supply clean power to the region.”

The minority interest in the new company is held by a group of investors who have been with Greenville Steam Co. since its inception, according to Hersey.