Solar Millennium AG completes sale of stakes in the Spanish Ibersol power plant project to Ferrostaal

• Ferrostaal acquires a 50 percent interest in the Ibersol project
• Start of construction of the fourth parabolic trough power plant in the south of Spain is thus within reach
• Planned US projects equally nearing the homestretch

Erlangen, 26 August 2010  Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, (ISIN DE0007218406) has completed the sale of 50 percent of the stakes in the Ibersol power plant project to Ferrostaal AG, Essen. Ibersol is the fourth power plant project developed by Solar Millennium in southern Spain. The realization of the parabolic trough power plant with a capacity of 50 MW in the province of Extremadura is to commence in autumn 2010, while the plant is expected to be connected to the grid after two and a half years of construction in spring 2013.

At the same time, Solar Millennium has prepared the shareholder structure of the Ibersol project for the involvement of additional institutional investors. To this end, Solar Millennium repurchased 25 percent of the Ibersol project stakes from the holding company Cross Capital AG, Zug (Switzerland). Cross Capital had acquired these stakes indirectly from Solar Millennium in October 2009. According to Cross Capital, this sale provides the holding company with liquidity to be able to invest into planned solar-thermal power plants in the USA. Solar Millennium takes this step in order to allow institutional investors to enter into the Ibersol project pursuant to the example set by the Andasol 3 solar power plant project (Stadtwerke München (Munich City Utility), RheinEnergie and RWE Innogy are involved in Andasol 3), and to prepare a fund for private investors. According to the Executive Board's assessment, the negotiations over the involvement of institutional investors are going well.

Thomas Mayer, spokesman of Solar Millennium's Executive Board, welcomes the involvement of Ferrostaal: "With Ferrostaal investing in our next Spanish project, we remain true to our business model. With Ibersol, our fourth Spanish project is nearing the homestretch. Hence, Solar Millennium has significantly contributed to a global distribution of the parabolic trough technology." Following its investment in the project, Ferrostaal will take part in the project development costs and help finance the power plant components that have already been ordered. All other measures in the run-up to the Ibersol construction will likewise be borne on a pro rata basis in the future. Flagsol GmbH, Cologne, the joint venture of Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal, will be largely responsible for engineering and construction.

Like its sister projects Andasol 1, 2 and 3 in the province of Andalusia, Ibersol will feature large thermal storage facilities, meaning that the operating hours and the amount of electricity produced can be nearly doubled over those of a solar power plant without storage. The power plant is essentially identical to Andasol 3, which is currently under construction in Andalusia. Ibersol will cover an area of around two square kilometers and feature collectors with a total length of 90 kilometers as well as collector space of about half a million square meters, equaling the area of roughly 70 soccer fields. Together with Andasol 3, the Spanish government granted the project pre-registration at the end of 2009, thereby ensuring that it will receive the feed-in tariffs for solar-thermal electricity generation.

The sale of stakes to Ferrostaal is still subject to approval by German antitrust authorities (Bundeskartellamt). In addition, the transfer of stakes in the Ibersol project company to a German holding company must be made legally effective according to Spanish law. Both of these procedures are expected to be completed in the weeks to come. The transaction is subject to neither further board approvals nor other conditions precedent. The acquisition price has not been disclosed.

US projects equally nearing the homestretch

Solar Millennium's planned projects in the US are also about to be realized. After developing Andasol 1, 2 and 3 in Spain, the world's largest solar power plants thus far with a total collector space in excess of 1.5 million square meters and electricity for around half a million people, the company plans to break its own records in California. The construction of at least one solar power plant with a capacity of 242 MW at the Blythe location is set to begin as early as 2010. Only last Friday, August 20, the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Blythe site was published by the Bureau of Land Management. This represents another major milestone on the way to the final permit of the planned solar power plants. The final permission is expected for October.

About Solar Millennium AG:
Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, is an international company in the renewable energy sector, with its main focus on solar-thermal power plants. Together with its subsidiaries and associates, the Company specializes in parabolic trough power plants and has managed to take a globally leading position in this field. Solar Millennium strives to further extend its expertise in the area of solar-thermal power plants with the aim of achieving and securing sustainable technology leadership. As such, the Company covers all important business sectors along the value chain for solar-thermal power plants: from project development and financing to the technology and the turnkey construction and operation of power plants. In Spain, Solar Millennium developed Europe's first parabolic trough power plants and realized these together with partners. Additional projects are planned around the world with an overall capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts: here the current regional focus is on Spain, the US, India, China, the Middle East and North Africa. More information is available at www.SolarMillennium.com

About solar-thermal power plant technology:
Solar-thermal power plants generate electricity by converting solar radiation into heat energy. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors concentrate the incidental radiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. Its absorption heats a fluid heat medium in the pipe, generating steam in the power block through a heat exchanger. As in conventional power plants, the steam powers a turbine to generate electricity. By integrating thermal storage, electricity can be supplied on demand, even after sunset.

You can download the press release here.