POLAND — Officials of the Maine Forest Service and Regional School Unit 16 will gather early Thursday morning at the school for the installation of the first wood-to-energy boiler in Maine funded by federal recovery act money through the Maine Forest Service.

The 2.3 million BTU boiler, manufactured by Mawera of Vorarlberg, Austria, will be lifted by crane and placed through the open roof of the school into its permanent location. The work, expected to begin at 9 a.m., is being done by Northline Energy, managed by Dan Worcester, out of its Western Maine offices.

In 2009, the Maine Forest Service received $11.4 million in funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A total of 13 grants to fund the installation of biomass boilers were approved.

The Poland Regional High School/Bruce M. Whittier Middle School project was in the first round of grant applications to be approved, and the boiler is the first to be installed under the Maine Forest Service-ARRA grants. The project was awarded $636,372, with a total cost of $712,785.

The new wood-to-energy system will supply more than 2.3 million BTU per hour of hot-water heat to the 134,000-square-foot school. This state-of-the-art biomass system will replace 47,000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil per year, at an estimated annual savings to the school of more $125,000.