ATHENS (AP) — A $30 million biomass plant proposed for Athens has won certification from a state financing agency for $12 million in state tax credits, a step forward for a project that could mean saving or creating about 200 jobs and boosting the local tax base.

Athens Energy, an affiliate of Maine Wood Pellets Co., received certification for Maine New Markets tax credits from directors of the Finance Authority of Maine at the board’s meeting last week.

Bill Norbert at the finance authority told the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1pzyuEk ) that he expects the credits to help leverage $30.3 million in investment in the biomass plant.

A company lawyer says the new power plant to be operational in about 15 months.

The plant will burn “low-quality waste wood” to create power.