Viaspace CEO Visits Giant King Grass Power Plant Project Under Development In Nicaragua

WALNUT, Calif., Jan. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC: VSPC) reported that CEO, Mr. Haris Basit, visited the Energia Reino Verde Giant King Grass power plant project under development in Nicaragua in December 2015. Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, accompanied him during the visit.

Energia Reino Verde (ERV) is a planned 12.3 MW biomass power plant co-located with a 2,100 acre Giant King Grass plantation that is part of a larger 10,000 acre rice plantation and rice mill that provides rice to Agri-Corp, a large diversified food company that has more than 50% of the rice market in Nicaragua. VIASPACE is co-developing this project with Agri-Corp executives and investors. VIASPACE and the Agri-Corp team are equal partners in ERV. The project has received a letter of intent from two international development banks which are working together to provide the debt financing, and the Nicaraguan partners will arrange the majority of the equity financing. The boiler technology has been selected and an engineering, procurement and construction contract has been signed. Giant King Grass has been growing in Nicaragua for more than two years. The project is ready to go, upon approval of the Nicaraguan government.

Mr. Basit met with Mr. Amilcar Ybarra, CEO of Agri-Corp, in Managua to receive a briefing on the ERV project, and visited the rice plantation where the Giant King Grass is growing and met with the agriculture team.

Mr. Basit stated, "I was very impressed with the overall capabilities of Agri-Corp and we are pleased to have them as a partner. I want to thank Mr. Ybarra for hosting my visit. It is clear that the project is very far along and that we will be able to proceed very quickly once we get government approval.  The visit to the rice plantation was very informative.  They plant and harvest about 6,000 acres of rice twice each year. They are extremely professional with top-quality equipment and trained agronomists. It is a large operation that includes an on-site rice mill. Giant King Grass has been growing on the plantation for more than two years, and the power plant will also be co-located on the plantation so that the furthest field will only be 2 miles from the power plant. This makes logistics much simpler and financially efficient."

The Giant King Grass project in Nicaragua will provide reliable 24/7 base electricity that is renewable with zero net carbon dioxide emissions. The project will replace imported oil which is the source of base electricity today, and provide more than 400 rural jobs in Nicaragua. Other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are intermittent sources that cannot be relied upon continuously and require oil backup electricity to compensate for intermittency. 

Mr. Basit concluded, "The Energia Reino Verde project will be our showroom for customers for future projects throughout the world. VIASPACE has the capability to develop the entire project including the plantation and power plant, and is working with customers and development partners on similar projects around the globe. We and our partners can do everything from a prefeasibility study and financial model through Engineering Procurement and Construction and commissioning of the power plant."

Pictures from the Nicaragua trip are available on the VIASPACE Facebook page www.facebook.com/viaspaceinc.

About VIASPACE Inc.

VIASPACE grows renewable Giant King^® Grass as a low-carbon fuel for clean electricity generation; for environmentally friendly energy pellets; and as a feedstock for bio-methane production and for green cellulosic biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Giant King^® Grass is a proprietary, high yield, dedicated biomass energy crop. Giant King^® Grass when it is cut frequently at 4 to 5 feet tall is also excellent animal feed. The USDA granted approval for planting Giant King^® Grass throughout the US and cooperates in exporting by performing the required inspections and issuing the phytosanitary certificate needed for import into foreign countries. Giant King^® Grass is being grown in California, Hawaii, St. Croix Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, South Africa, China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Guyana.  For more information, please go to www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or [email protected].

Safe Harbor Statement

Information in this news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control. 

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.

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