Capstone Receives Order for First C1000 from Oil & Gas Producer Operating in Southern California

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 (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 the first C1000 Power Package from an oil & gas producer in Southern California.

The C1000, sold by Capstone distributor Regatta Solutions, based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., will be commissioned this spring in a combined heat and power (CHP) application to save operating and maintenance costs and avoid flaring, one of the most challenging energy and environmental problems today at oil & gas sites and landfills.

Rather than flare the waste gas, a byproduct from the drilling process, the C1000 will use the associated gas as fuel to generate low-emission electricity onsite to power the plant's pumps and infrastructure systems. The microturbine exhaust will heat water for the free-water knockout process—or three phase separator process—to separate gas, oil, and water.

"This order confirms our client's confidence in Capstone's full line of ultra low-emission microturbines," said Steve Acevedo, Regatta Solutions President. "Oil & gas producers across the country have demanding power needs and Capstone microturbines of all sizes meet these requirements with the added benefit of environmental efficiency."

"Nearly 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared in the atmosphere annually," said Jim Crouse, Capstone's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Flaring is a waste of natural resources and creates 400 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent global greenhouse gas emissions, which has a significant impact on the environment, not to mention the associated health issues. Capstone microturbines use associated gas to generate low-emission power, which eradicates flaring and enables producers to utilize otherwise wasted gas for production."

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 6,000 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 the advantages of our products and use of our products in the oil & gas market. 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" 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
         Investor and investment media inquiries:
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Source: Capstone Turbine Corporation