Viaspace to supply giant king grass to Tibbar Energy in Virgin Islands

Oct 3, 2012 - US bioenergy company Viaspace Inc (OTCBB:VSPC) said Wednesday it had won a deal to supply its proprietary energy crop giant king grass for a plantation of Tibbar Energy USVI LLC in the US Virgin Islands.

The exclusive partnership has been struck for a 1,500-acre (607 ha) plantation that will supply feedstock for Tibbar’s 6-MW biomass energy plant under development on St Croix island. The local company is planning to bring the plant on stream in the first three months of 2014. The facility will use the process of anaerobic digestion to turn biomass feedstock into biogas for electricity generation.

According to Viaspace’s press release, the biomass energy installation on the island will create 20 permanent positions and fetch USD 150 million (EUR 116m) of income to the community during the plant’s lifetime. Financial details on the contract with Tibbar were not provided.

Giant king grass is a high-yield, non-food, low-carbon energy crop. Up to now it has been successfully used for direct combustion for power generation and for biogas production.

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