Bethel-based Maine Energy Systems LLC has finalized an agreement to have an Austrian company manufacture wood pellet boilers in Maine for the U.S. market.

The deal is expected to position Maine Energy Systems as the country’s largest manufacturer of wood-pellet boilers. The company said it expects to create 50 manufacturing jobs in Oxford County and 50 jobs related to installation and fuel delivery.

The company has been in a test phase for the last six months, and recently increased production in anticipation of the fall heating season. Under the terms of the agreement with the Austrian company OkoFEN, Maine Energy Systems will assemble a combination of sub-manufactured parts and parts manufactured in Bethel.

OkoFEN produced the first European pellet boiler, in 1997. It has since installed 40,000 units throughout western Europe.

Maine Energy Systems, under license from OkoFEN, markets the MESys AutoPellet System in the U.S. and Canada.

The manufacturing agreement builds on Maine Energy Systems’ efforts, which began in 2008, to create a new industry for the Northeast by introducing fully automatic wood pellet boiler systems and bulk pellet distribution in the U.S.

The company says its goal is to shift homes and businesses away from oil heat into wood pellets.

MESys has trained more than 400 heating contractors to install and service wood pellet boiler systems. The contractors have installed hundreds of fully automatic wood pellet boiler systems in municipal and institutional buildings and homes throughout the Northeast.

Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or at:

tturkel@pressherald.com