Capstone Receives Order for First C1000 Power System in Midwestern United States

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Jan. 12, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST), the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, today announced it received an order for a C1000 power system from a large consumer-goods manufacturer in Chicago.

NewLoop Energy, Capstone's new distributor for the Chicago, Northeastern Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin regions, secured the order, which is the first C1000 to be sold in the Midwestern United States.

The C1000 will be installed in the manufacturer's 250,000-square-foot facility in a combined heat and power (CHP) application. The turbine will provide electricity to supplement power from the local utility. In addition, waste heat from the microturbine will be captured to preheat water for steam used in the manufacturing process.

"The customer wants to reduce energy costs, while also lowering their environmental footprint," said Jim Crouse, Capstone's Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. "After learning about the Capstone C1000, they knew it was the right choice, since it will replace traditional grid electricity and boiler heat, which will reduce their carbon footprint by 3,500 pounds of carbon dioxide each year."

The energy savings at the manufacturing facility, which operates 24/7, is equivalent to removing 700 cars from the road or planting 730 acres of forest.

"We expect the system to pay for itself in less than four years, in part because of the 10 percent federal grant they received for microturbine installations," said Tim McAvoy, Managing Director, NewLoop Energy.

The C1000 is a robust one megawatt power system configured in a single compact ISO size container and provides the same low emissions, low noise, high efficiency and extended maintenance benefits of Capstone's C30 and C65 microturbines.

"Capstone's products are a great solution for lowering energy costs," said Darren Jamison, Capstone President and CEO. "We've had tremendous response from companies throughout the world when they learn how much they can save each year using Capstone's CHP technology."

About Capstone Turbine Corporation

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST) is the world's leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems, and was the first to market commercially viable microturbine energy products. Capstone Turbine has shipped over 5,000 Capstone MicroTurbine(R) systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged millions of documented runtime operating hours. Capstone Turbine is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A UL-Certified ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certified company, Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in the New York metro area, Mexico City, Nottingham, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

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This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is used in the federal securities laws, about reduced energy costs, the environmental advantages of our products and the receipt of public funding for projects using our products. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "objective," "intend," "targeted," "plan" and similar phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties described in Capstone's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that may cause Capstone's actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied in such statements. Capstone cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Capstone undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

"Capstone Turbine Corporation" and "Capstone MicroTurbine" are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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Released January 12, 2010