DGAP-News: Solar Millennium and Solar Trust of America Opt for Photovoltaic Technology at Blythe Project

Solar Millennium AG  / Key word(s): Strategic Company Decision

18.08.2011 08:48

Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of
EquityStory AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this
announcement. 

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Solar Millennium and Solar Trust of America Opt for Photovoltaic Technology
at Blythe Project

Erlangen/Cleveland, OH, 18 August 2011 Solar Millennium AG (ISIN
DE0007218406)  and its US subsidiary Solar Trust of America today announced
their plan to convert the first 500 MW phase of the Blythe Solar Power
Project to photovoltaic (PV) technology.  When complete, the Blythe Project
will be 1,000 MW in size and thus the largest solar facility in the world.
While Solar Millennium remains the international leader in Concentrating
Solar Power (CSP) technology, the company cited favorable conditions in the
PV and commercial lending markets in the United States as the main driver
for the decision.

'Solar Millennium responds quickly and pragmatically to market conditions,
and at the moment the California market favors PV technology,' said
Christoph Wolff, CEO of Solar Millennium.  'We are taking decisive steps in
the US to maximize site value for our company and our shareholders.'
While the company's first North American project will be converted to PV,
Solar Millennium maintains a strong international pipeline of CSP projects.
'Our long-term strategy remains unchanged. We see solid demand for CSP in
the world's growth markets such as Africa, the Middle East, India and
China. This is also true for Southern Europe where we have just achieved
financial close on our fourth CSP plant in Spain,' Wolff added.

Uwe T. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Solar Trust of America said: 'We
develop solar projects of the size, scale, and scope of the largest
conventional power plants in order to propel solar energy forward as a
mainstream source of clean energy.  By managing a sophisticated domestic
solar supply chain to service both solar thermal and PV projects throughout
the American Southwest we drive down the cost of solar and generate
valuable jobs throughout the country.'

Earlier this year, the Department of Energy offered a conditional
commitment of a $2.1 billion loan for the construction of 500 MW of CSP
technology at the Blythe site.  However, Solar Millennium and Solar Trust
of America decided developing the site as PV and utilizing commercial
financing is a more attractive strategy in the current market.

Solar Trust of America and Solar Millennium are in discussions with leading
PV panel manufacturers and EPC contractors regarding the Blythe project.
'Going forward, we will continue to expand our technology portfolio to
respond to market opportunities. However, we strongly believe solar thermal
technology will continue to fuel our market growth. The advantages of CSP
as a grid-stabilizing renewable energy source with storage capabilities are
obvious and highly valued by utilities elsewhere in the world. They will
soon become systematically acknowledged in the US, as well. This includes
the use of hybrid PV/CSP plants,' Wolff concluded.


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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:

About Solar Millennium AG:

Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, (ISIN DE0007218406)  is a company that
operates globally in the renewable energy sector, with its main focus on
solar power plants. Together with its subsidiaries and associates, the
Company specializes in solar-thermal power plants, particularly parabolic
trough plants, and has taken a global leadership position in this field.

Solar Millennium is striving to further extend its expertise in this area
with the aim of achieving and securing sustainable technology leadership.
The Company covers all important business sectors along the value chain for
solar power plants: from project development and financing to technology
and the turnkey construction and operation of power plants. Solar
Millennium realized Europe's first parabolic trough power plants in Spain
as well as the first modern parabolic trough solar field in Egypt. In
Blythe (California), Solar Millennium is presently developing the largest
solar power plant in the world. Additional projects are planned around the
world with a total capacity of several thousand megawatts. The current
regional focus is on Spain, the U.S., the Middle East and North Africa.

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.

For further Information: 

Solar Millennium AG
Corporate Communications presse@SolarMillennium.de
Investor Relations investor@SolarMillennium.de
Tel.: +49 (0)9131 9409-0
Web: www.SolarMillennium.de



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