Capstone Announces Significant Follow-On Order From Large Australian Coal Seam Gas Company

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Oct. 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST), the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced today that it received a follow-on order from a large Australian coal seam gas company. The initial order in July 2008 was for the supply of 110 C30 packages and totaled $4.7 million. The units were shipped, packaged, installed and commissioned over a two-year period.

Capstone's distributor Aquatec-Maxcon Pty Ltd secured the new follow-on five-year supply contract. Aquatec-Maxcon is Australia's leading provider of water and wastewater technology and equipment. The C30 microturbines are supplied as integrated packaged systems by Aquatec-Maxcon for use in remote coal seam gas exploration and production wells in the Australian outback.

"All of the initial 110 units have been commissioned and operating for approximately two years," stated Ivan Reolon, Aquatec-Maxcon's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "This second contract is for an additional supply of possibly hundreds of Capstone C30 microturbines over a five-year period. The initial order from the second contract is for 44 C30 microturbines, which are scheduled to be shipped to Aquatec-Maxcon for packaging by the end of the year," added Reolon.

"This is a significant follow-on order by a major coal seam gas producer, which further validates Capstone's value proposition of providing oil and gas customers industry leading reliability and a low emission solution for one of the harshest and most remote locations in the world," said Jim Crouse, Capstone's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

"The oil and gas market is our fastest growing market segment worldwide and accounted for 58% of total revenue last year," said Darren Jamison, Capstone's President and Chief Executive Officer. "From the shale plays of the United States, to the remote oil fields of Russia, from the offshore drilling platforms of the Gulf of Mexico to remote coal seam fields of Australia, energy exploration and production companies are setting new standards for energy reliability and ultra-low emissions with Capstone's innovative technologies from 30kw to 5MW," added Jamison.

Sources quoted by ABC News estimated that there would be as many as 40,000 coal seam gas wells drilled in Australia over the next 10 years. ABC reported that the scale and speed of coal seam gas exploration and production in Australia has been nothing short of astonishing, with billions of dollars pouring into regional areas; new jobs being created; state and national coffers swelling; export contracts having been signed; and massive liquefied natural gas facilities being approved for construction at regional ports. Most experts agree that coal seam gas offers a much greener energy choice than other traditional power generation solutions,as reported by ABC.

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 6,500 Capstone Microturbine 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, growth of the oil and gas market and increased opportunities in the Australian coal seam gas industry. 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.

Capstone Turbine Corporation
Investor and investment media inquiries:
818-407-3628

Released October 10, 2012