7 MW Power Purchase Agreement Nearly Finalized in St. Croix

WALNUT, Calif., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTCQB: VSPC) today provided an update on the Tibbar Energy 7 MW anaerobic digestion power plant project on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.  As reported by the St. Croix Source on April 19, 2013, Mr. Hugo Hodge, executive director of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA), stated that the authority was nearing a purchase agreement with Tibbar Energy, a proposed biomass electricity company on St. Croix. Hodge said that, in a few years, St. Croix will have 10 MW of electricity coming from industrial solar, 5 MW from net metering and 7 MW from Tibbar, for a total of 22 MW being produced by alternative sources. He estimated that at peak consumption, the St. Croix grid only needed 45 MW. That means the WAPA power plant would only need to supply an additional 23 MW.

Tibbar is continuing to plant its Giant King™ Grass nurseries, and plans to create a 1000+ acre plantation to fuel the 7 MW anaerobic digestion power plant. It is testing irrigation options and large scale planting procedures.  "We have started to develop an impressive farming operation in preparation of our finalized power purchase agreement (PPA)" said Tibbar CEO Tania Tomyn.  "We have purchased tractors and additional equipment. We are proud of our new farm staff and they are integral to the progress so far."

Tomyn continued, "As WAPA stated in the St. Croix Source article, there is a lot of work that goes into balancing Tibbar's base load power with WAPA's.  Tibbar will be unlike intermittent wind and solar as we will produce continuous dispatchable power 24/7.  Our computer system will be tied to WAPA's and will use the latest technology to efficiently work together."

Tibbar is also continuing its public education and awareness program on a variety of levels.  For example, on April 17^th and 18^th, Tibbar sponsored and presented at the St. Croix Earth Day Eco-Fair. According to Tibbar CEO Tania Tomyn and Farm Manager Bob Peets, "We educated hundreds of children from dozens of St. Croix schools about renewable energy. Tibbar was the major sponsor and we had a fantastic turn out teaching children about Giant King Grass and why bio-energy crops are part of our future."

VIASPACE Chairman, Dr. Kevin Schewe, commented, "Giant King Grass is growing incredibly well in St. Croix and our partnership with Tibbar Energy is progressing nicely. The planned 7 MW anaerobic digestion power plant using Giant King Grass to create continuous, eco-friendly, carbon neutral, green electricity on St. Croix is already demonstrating intangible benefits of educating children about the merits of renewable green energy and has attracted tourists interested in green energy. We believe that using Giant King Grass as a continuously renewable biomass/bioenergy platform is the perfect green solution for the energy needs of tropical island nations and our partnership with Tibbar Energy can prove this concept on St. Croix in the very near future. This project paves the way for other island economies to model similar green electricity projects using Giant King Grass. Every day at VIASPACE, we grow more excited about our future corporate role and place in the evolution of economically viable and successful green energy production."

About VIASPACE Inc.
VIASPACE grows renewable Giant King^TM 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 clean energy crop that does not compete with or displace food production. 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, 2012, and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.