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UL Certifies 60-Kilowatt Capstone MicroTurbine

UL Certifies 60-Kilowatt Capstone MicroTurbine

Published 11-28-01

Submitted by Capstone Turbine Corp.

Underwriter's Laboratories Inc (UL) has certified Capstone 60 grid-connect and stand-alone microturbine power systems as meeting its stringent UL2200 stationary engine generator standard and its UL1741 utility interactive requirements. Capstone 30- and 60-kilowatt systems are the only microturbine generators to achieve these safety certifications.

The coveted UL-Listed mark indicates compliance with rigorous industry safety standards throughout the United States. It certifies that UL has thoroughly evaluated a product and found it to comply with all of its applicable safety and operational requirements.

The UL2200 standard is a rather recently developed set of criteria for
stationary power generators. The standard covers mechanical and electrical safety for stationary engine generator assemblies such as Capstone's MicroTurbines, ensuring that they can be installed and used in accordance with applicable codes such as the National Electric Code and the Standard for the Installation and Use of Stationary Combustion Engines and Gas Turbines. In most jurisdictions, compliance with UL2200 is required to install and use a stationary power generator.

"In Capstone's goal to make microturbine power systems appliance-like products for distributed generation, safety of the system must be similar to that of an electric appliance," said Capstone President & CEO Dr. Ake Almgren. "The UL2200 standard and our compliance with it is in line with this vision."

The UL1741 standard addresses safety concerns related to grid-connected power generators. To ensure grid stability and in case of a "downed" power cable, the safety of power line workers, most utilities require that costly "protective relay" devices be added and, in many cases, that their own personnel conduct an extensive safety verification study. There are thousands of electric utilities in the United States, and few will accept the safety verification testing of another. These conditions have often made the cost of an onsite generation project prohibitively expensive.

However, a number of utilities have indicated that UL-certified compliance with the UL1741 standard will eliminate the need for both unnecessary hardware and extensive verification studies.

"There must be a certainty of safety for any grid interconnected device," Almgren said. "Grid interconnection safety is built into our system, but understandably, no utility should simply take a manufacturer's word for it. This landmark certification by the world's leading independent testing laboratory on electrical safety provides that certainty to utilities and their customers."

Earlier this year, UL certified Capstone Turbine Corporation's compliance with ISO 9001, a renowned international quality systems standard.

About UL Approval

The UL mark indicates that a product complies with rigorous safety standards, including being reasonably free from risk of fire, electric shock and related hazards. UL's independent expert status allows it to be unbiased in determining whether or not a product meets recognized safety standards and whether a manufacturer has minimized reasonable foreseeable risks associated with the product's use.

About Capstone Turbine

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.microturbine.com; Nasdaq: CPST) is the world's leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems. In 1998, Capstone was the first to offer commercial power products utilizing microturbine technology, the result of more than ten years of focused research. Capstone Turbine has shipped more than 1,800 commercial production Capstone MicroTurbine systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged more than one million hours of operation serving, among others, the following applications:

* Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs): onboard generation

* Resource recovery: converting oilfield, landfill and sewage waste gases into electricity

* Micro-cogeneration: combined heat/power/chilling/drying solutions

* The 9s market: power security, quality and reliability

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is used in the federal securities laws, about Capstone's business, such as eliminating unnecessary hardware and verification studies. These
forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause Capstone's actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors are identified, among other places, under "Business Risks" in Capstone's most recent 10-Q SEC filing. Capstone cautions you not to place undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Capstone undertakes no obligation to release any revisions to such statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Capstone Turbine Corp.

Capstone Turbine Corp.

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