NMCC, APP officials
back from successful economic trip
PRESQUE ISLE — Northern Maine Community College and economic development officials are back in Aroostook County following what is described as very positive meetings with Schmid Energy Solutions, a leading international wood-energy systems company based in Switzerland.
Contributed photo
NORTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE President Timothy Crowley, foreground, surveys a boiler under construction at Schmid headquarters in Eschlikon, Switzerland, during a recent visit. Also pictured are, from left: Dana Saucier, a forestry consultant with Northern Maine Development Commission; NMDC Executive Director Bob Clark, and Tamara Gaetzi of Schmid Energy.
During the last week of May, NMCC President Timothy Crowley, Aroostook Partnership for Progress President (APP) Bob Dorsey, Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) Executive Director Bob Clark, Dana Saucier, a forestry consultant who works with NMDC; Barry Ingraham, director of facilities and information technology at NMCC; and David Cote, electrician and boiler operator at NMCC, visited Schmid headquarters in Eschlikon, Switzerland at the invitation of the company. Schmid even provided some of funding for the trip.
The original intent of the visit was twofold — to show the Schmid leadership the state-of-the-art control system that has been designed to monitor all aspects of the college’s Schmid boiler operation and to see if Schmid might like to use that technology to enhance their systems, and to explore whether Schmid has interest in coming to Aroostook to manufacture their boilers for the American and Canadian markets.
“Schmid was impressed with the precision and scope of the control system in use at Northern Maine Community College which monitors the Schmid boiler we purchased — the first to be installed in the U.S.,” said Crowley. “We hope the company is interested in our technology to enhance their systems.”
“We went over there wanting to build upon the good relationships that NMCC already had and found out Schmid has a lot of respect for NMCC and their boiler technicians,” said Dorsey. “They also clearly see an opportunity in America and seem to like our area which in many ways, with our small towns and farms, is a lot like Switzerland.”
The trip consisted of more than just a tour of the Schmid manufacturing facility. Dorsey said the first day was an overview of Swiss forestry harvesting operations hosted by the innovative company Baumgartner & Sons. The next day was at Schmid with one of their representatives highlighting various configurations and sizes of their boilers in operations, and the third leg of the trip was a visit to the University of Lucerne applied science department to discuss the multi-national research and development efforts they have been working on for some time in the biomass industry.
Saucier was extremely impressed with the research efforts led by Dr. Thomas Nussaumer, who actually visited and worked with the University of Maine at Orono previously as a private consultant.
As for the next steps, Dorsey said Schmid and Lucerne University professors have been invited to the next APP Biomass Fair, which will be held at NMCC next spring. In addition, APP plans to follow up on some Schmid officials’ requests for information on legal issues related to locating manufacturing business capabilities in our region, specifically issues dealing with insurance and product liability.
“We are in the very early stages of this effort, and most importantly, we plan to keep the lines of communications open and to assist Schmid in any way that we can,” said Dorsey. “We very much hope to see both Schmid and Lucerne officials participate in our Biomass Fair next year.”
Crowley is optimistic about the growing involvement between Schmid, NMCC and potential economic advancement.
“The connections with Schmid and the University of Lucerne are very important to Northern Maine Community College since we all have a deep interest in biomass energy and can benefit from sharing knowledge,” said Crowley. “Also, our region is well positioned to support Schmid as they explore expanding their North American market.”
Schmid has a more than 75-year history, with operations in Switzerland and Germany. The company produces boilers capable of using chipped, ground or pellet woody biomass fuels ranging from 150 kW to 25 MW. The boiler at NMCC is 900 kW, which heats the two largest buildings on campus replacing 75 percent of the college’s fuel oil consumption with local, renewable energy. During the heating season of 2012-13, $51,000 was saved in fuel costs compared to the year before.
