E Maine city to get wood pellet facility

EASTPORT, Maine (AP) -- Maine's easternmost city is getting a manufacturing plant for a special type of wood pellet that will be shipped overseas as an alternative, cleaner-burning fuel for coal-fired power plants.

Thermogen Industries, a subsidiary of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Cate Street Capital, said Friday it has signed a letter of intent with the Eastport Port Authority to build the plant next to the port's Estes Head Terminal.

Thermogen wants to produce up to 300,000 tons of torrefied wood pellets annually — a more fuel-efficient pellet. The company's already working on a production facility in Millinocket.

Former Senate President Kevin Raye calls the development "a monumental moment for Eastport and for Washington County" that will create jobs. The Perry Republicans says it was helped by a $4.5 million bond issue in 2009.