OXFORD — The $2 million biomass furnace for Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris is on its way from Austria.

“We were all excited it was coming,” Oxford Hills School District facilities director David Marshall said Tuesday. The furnace was expected to be up and running by Jan. 5 but that date was pushed back because of a misunderstanding in the shipment order dates.

The furnace was shipped from the manufacturing plant on Monday, Jan. 17, and officials say it will take four to six weeks to arrive, Marshall said. The furnace is expected to be shipped to Cote Crane in Auburn, which has been contracted to install it at the school in Paris.

The proposed $2-million-plus conversion project is to address escalating fuel costs and to reduce dependence on foreign oil. The furnace will replace about 90 percent of the No. 2 fuel oil.

Two of the three oil burners will remain in place to supplement heat in the fall and spring and in case the biomass furnace goes down during the winter, officials said.

Marshall said that all the construction at the high school has been completed and funding has all been approved.

Major construction took place over the last several months to house the biomass furnace. It included a 57- by 22-foot-wide concrete slab for wood chip storage in back of the high school and an addition to house the furnace.

The furnace, which is being paid for in part by a $750,000 state Department of Conservation grant, is expected to save the district as much as $120,000 a year in annual fuel costs.

The overall project will also add other solar initiatives, including LED lighting and sensors in the high school parking lot and equipment to heat water in the locker room showers in the summer.

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