WALNUT, California,
March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
VIASPACE Inc. (OTCQB: VSPC) today announced that the company has
signed a contract with Mesquite Lake Water and Power LLC to provide
Giant King Grass for a biomass power plant and a companion advanced
biofuels facility in Imperial,
California.
Mesquite Lake Water and Power, LLC is a participating company in
Mesquite Lake Energy Park, LLC (ML Energy Park).
Mr. Rodney L. Williams, managing
member of Mesquite Lake, stated, "Our company is developing a
biomass energy park in the fertile Imperial Valley of
California. We first purchased the closed 18 MW biomass power
plant in Imperial, California. We
plan to restart the power plant (ML Energy Park Plant #1) and fuel
it with a combination of wood waste and Giant King Grass. The
power plant was damaged in the 2010 earthquake, but this damage
will be repaired. The power plant is connected to the grid and was
fully permitted and operational in 2010."
Williams continued, "Another part of the ML Energy Park will be
the Mesquite Lake Cattle Manure Power Plant which is adjacent to
Plant #1. This power plant is also closed at this time. It was
designed to gasify cattle manure and produce 16 MW of electricity.
We plan to convert this facility (Plant #2) to produce advanced
biofuels using the dedicated energy crop Giant King Grass as the
feedstock. Between the two plants, there is plenty of land for our
energy park. We are connected to the grid and there is an adjacent
natural gas pipeline. We are experienced in agriculture and have
access to land to grow Giant King Grass. The Imperial Valley has
ideal weather for Giant King Grass and there is plenty of water for
irrigation. I am excited to see the development of this new
dedicated energy crop in the Imperial Valley."
VIASPACE CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen,
reported, "We are happy to be working with Mr. Williams and his
team. This project is basically in our own backyard. We
are already growing Giant King Grass in Southern California and we believe it will
grow even better in the Imperial Valley which has more heat and a
longer growing season. Giant King
Grass is a C4 plant which means that it thrives in hot
weather as long as it has water available. We expect to be growing
in Imperial Valley very shortly."
VIASPACE Chairman, Dr. Kevin
Schewe commented, "This contract represents a significant
and timely planned expansion of what we have always envisioned for
Giant King Grass to be used as a multipurpose, high-yielding,
continuously renewable, biomass platform. In other words, Giant
King Grass will be used for direct combustion to generate bio
electricity in ML Energy Park Plant #1 and will also be used to
create advanced green energy biofuels in ML Energy Park Plant #2.
With this contract, VIASPACE has expanded its U.S. domestic
business footprint to California
and Arizona to use Giant King
Grass for bio electricity, biofuels and animal feed. We are also
expanding internationally and will soon announce those new projects
as well."
Dr. Schewe concluded, "This is great news for VIASPACE and its
shareholders and we are truly enthusiastic and excited to be
working with Mr. Williams and Mesquite Lake Water and Power. This
project is moving forward now and we will have more to announce
regarding our progress in Imperial Valley in the coming weeks and
months."
Pictures of Dr. Kukkonen and Mr. Williams and the two power
plants are available on the VIASPACE Facebook page
www.facebook.com/viaspaceinc.
About VIASPACE Inc.
VIASPACE grows renewable Giant
KingTM 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, Arizona, Hawaii, St. Croix Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, South
Africa, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. 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.