Capstone Turbine's Recently Appointed Northern California Distributor Set to Install First C600 in Key California Market

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Jan. 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST), the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, received an order for a C600 that will soon be installed at a food supplier's processing plant in California.

Capstone's recently appointed distributor, Western Energy Systems, secured the order for the ultra low-emission C600, which will be used in a combined heat and power (CHP) application. The microturbine is expected to be fully operational in the next couple of months. Headquartered in Brea, Calif., Western Energy Systems, a subsidiary of Penn Power Systems, is a clean tech, green business that provides comprehensive energy-efficient power generation equipment and service solutions. The company has an extensive customer base along the West Coast built over several years.

The natural gas fueled C600 will supply 600 kilowatts of electricity to the facility to reduce its purchased utility power. At the same time, the clean-and-green microturbine's exhaust energy will be captured to warm tanks of cooking oils. In the event the plant loses grid power, the C600 will provide emergency back-up power.

"The efficiency of the CHP system will reduce the plant's carbon footprint," said Jim Crouse, Capstone's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "In addition, the C600's emissions are lower than the average grid emissions in California, which allows the customer to reduce its emissions impact. Increased energy efficiencies will also provide significantly reduced energy costs."

Capstone's C600 is a robust 600 kilowatt power system configured in a compact ISO container style package that provides the same low emissions, low noise, high efficiency and extended maintenance benefits of Capstone's C30, C65 and C200 offerings. It features Capstone's patented air bearing, remote monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, and integrated utility synchronization and protection. The small, modular C600 system allows for easy and low-cost installation. Five- and nine-year Factory Protection Plans ("FPP") also are available, providing customers with fixed maintenance costs over the term of the FPP.

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 9001:2008 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 and Singapore.

The Capstone Turbine Corporation logo is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6212

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is used in the federal securities laws, about reduced costs and the fuel efficiency and environmental advantages of our C600 product. 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.

CONTACT: Capstone Turbine Corporation
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Released January 10, 2011