VIASPACE CEO Provides Update On Nicaragua Giant King® Grass Plantation and 12 MW Power Plant at International Biomass Conference

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May 12, 2015, 07:00 ET

WALNUT, Calif., May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC: VSPC) announced that VIASPACE CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, made a presentation at the International Biomass Conference and Expo held April 20-22, 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The presentation provided a case study and update on the 12 MW biomass power plant and 2,100 acre Giant King Grass plantation project being developed in Nicaragua.

The eighth annual International Biomass Conference and Expo attracted 1,400 industry professionals and 204 exhibitors from all sectors of the world's biomass utilization industries—biobased power, thermal energy, biogas, biofuels and biochemicals.

Dr. Kukkonen's presentation included an overview of the project and its status which is summarized below.

Nicaragua power plant and plantation specifications:

12 MW gross electrical power
High-temperature, high-pressure boiler with 30% efficiency from heating value of fuel to electricity
High availability minimum 90%--7,884 hours per year
11% internal electricity use
84 million kwh of salable electricity
Expected project lifetime 25+ years
Fuel consumption--9 dry equivalent metric tons of Giant King Grass per hour
Power plant co-located with 2,100 acre (832 hectare) Giant King Grass plantation

Nicaragua power plant and plantation status:

Prefeasibility study and business plan completed
Giant King Grass growing well in Nicaragua
Formal feasibility study completed
EPC contractor selected and contract signed
Power plant operator selected
Provisional Generation License applied for
Non-objection letter obtained from community
Non-objection letter obtained from environmental department
In progress with debt financers--banks
Local partners will provide half of the equity

Remaining items planned to be completed in coming months. Power plant construction and commissioning will take less than two years.

At the conference, Dr. Kukkonen also held technical meetings, and met with potential new customers, suppliers and investors.

VIASPACE Chairman, Dr. Kevin Schewe, commented, "The International Biomass Conference and Expo is the largest gathering of biomass professionals in North America. It is a best-in-class professional meeting. Dr. Kukkonen's invited presentation regarding our Giant King Grass fueled, 12 MW renewable, biomass power plant in Nicaragua reflects the genuine and growing international interest in this particular project. VIASPACE is keenly focused on making this project scalable and reproducible as we continue with our Nicaraguan partners to make it a reality."

The VIASPACE presentation at the International Biomass Conference is available on the VIASPACE website www.VIASPACE.com.

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.