WALNUT, Calif., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc.
(OTCQB: VSPC) today announced that CEO Dr. Carl Kukkonen has returned from Nicaragua after a series of business meetings
that culminated in the signing of a Joint Development Agreement
with Grain Hill/AGRICORP. Under the agreement, a new special
purpose company will be established to develop, build, own and
operate a 2,100 acre Giant King™ Grass plantation and a co-located
12 MW biomass power plant on the AGRICORP Agricola Miramontes
plantation on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. The Joint Development
Agreement was signed by Dr. Kukkonen and Grain Hill/AGRICORP CEO
and Board President, Amilcar
Ybarra-Rojas.
VIASPACE and AGRICORP will be equal shareholders in the new
company and lead the development of the plantation and power plant
project. Debt and equity financing for the power plant project will
be solicited. A brief description of the project and an
overview of Grain Hill/AGRICORP are available on the VIASPACE
website www.VIASPACE.com.
Project development has already begun. Dr. Kukkonen and AGRICORP
personnel met recently with government officials and private
companies in Nicaragua. Project development includes
obtaining all necessary governmental approvals and licenses,
long-term power purchase agreements, debt and equity financing, and
a contract with an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC)
company to build the power plant.
VIASPACE and AGRICORP have already accomplished the following
milestones:
- Giant King Grass was imported
from the US and is registered in Nicaragua.
- Giant King Grass is growing at
the AGRICORP plantation.
- The AGRICORP plantation has the irrigation and infrastructure
for Giant King Grass.
- The preliminary financial model for the Giant King Grass
plantation and power plant is in place.
- The sophisticated power plant technology for Giant King Grass
has been identified.
- Rice husk and rice straw from the AGRICORP plantation and mill
are available as backup and supplementary fuel.
- Major elements of the feasibility study are in place.
CEO Dr. Carl Kukkonen met with US
Embassy Commercial, Energy and Agriculture officers in Managua and obtained background information
and advice on doing business in Nicaragua. He also met with
PRONicaragua which facilitates foreign investment in Nicaragua.
"AGRICORP is a strong and highly respected company," stated Dr.
Carl Kukkonen. "I am confident that
together we can rapidly bring this renewable, green energy project
to Nicaragua. The key to
successful financing and operation of a biomass power plant is
having a reliable, low-cost source of biomass for the lifetime of
the power plant. With our co-located Giant King Grass plantation,
we will be growing our own fuel. Furthermore, AGRICORP is already
growing and milling rice on the same plantation. The waste products
are rice straw and rice husks and these can be burned in the same
power plant. We will have the security of both fuel sources."
AGRICORP is a subsidiary of Grain Hill which is a diversified
agro-industrial business group in the following food related
businesses: agriculture-mainly growing rice, food processing,
mainly rice milling, and distribution of its own 12 brands of rice,
and value added food products, and third-party brands. It has
revenues of $300 million per year
with operations in Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and El Salvador.
Grain Hill/AGRICORP is the largest rice company in Nicaragua.
Grain Hill CEO and Board President, Amilcar Ybarra-Rojas stated, "This is an
important project to provide clean, renewable electricity for
Nicaragua and jobs for our people.
Through our Joint Development Agreement with VIASPACE, AGRICORP is
leading the interface with the power customers, grid connection,
plantation operations and plant permitting. VIASPACE is taking the
lead in project development, Giant King Grass, power plant
technology selection and financial modeling."
VIASPACE Chairman, Dr. Kevin
Schewe, commented: "Our partnership with AGRICORP is an
example of perfect timing. We are actively discussing similar Giant
King Grass plantations co-located with power plant projects in
several countries around the globe. We believe that our project
with AGRICORP in Nicaragua will be
an international model that can be scaled and replicated anywhere
there is a suitable climate and growing conditions for Giant King
Grass. This is the ideal project for VIASPACE because we will
receive a license fee for Giant King Grass and also will be an
equity partner in the power plant. This is the future and the
growth path for our company."
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 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
IR@VIASPACE.com.
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.