Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. : Altair Partners With Chinese Cities of Handan and Wu'an to Accelerate the Production and Deployment of Lithium Titanate Energy Storage Systems in China

RENO, NV--(Marketwire - Apr 24, 2012) - Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTI), a leading developer of lithium titanate battery systems, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Altair Nanotechnologies (China) Co., Ltd., had entered into an economic cooperation agreement with Handan and Wu'an cities, which are located in Hebei Province in the People's Republic of China. The agreements were signed at the Handan Investment Environment Promotion Conference in Hong Kong on April 18, 2012.

The agreement will promote the development, production, sale and deployment of energy storage systems, electric vehicles (EV) and lithium titanate (LTO) materials in Handan and Wu'an cities. It provides a platform for Altair's entry into the market through collaboration in manufacturing, vehicle electrification and energy storage initiatives, including:

• Manufacturing - Altair and Wu'an City shall jointly invest in the construction of an advanced production facility for the Company's lithium titanate materials and battery systems within Wu'an city's newly formed industrial park. Wu'an City has identified a package of incentives, which would further support Altair's investment into the industrial park.
  
  
• Vehicle Electrification - Altair shall provide Handan and Wu'an cities with EV taxis and EV buses for use in their municipal vehicle fleets.
  
  
• Energy Storage - Altair shall work with Handan City to deploy its LTO energy storage systems in various municipal applications, including wind farm energy storage.
  
  
• "These new agreements will provide significant support and incentives for our entry into the Chinese energy storage market," said Alexander Lee, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "By partnering with Handan and Wu'an cities, we will leverage our core technologies to gain access into key markets in China, which are eager to use LTO-based solutions to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and reduce emissions."
  

ABOUT ALTAIR
Headquartered in Reno, Nev. with manufacturing in Anderson, Ind., Altairnano is a leading provider of energy storage systems for clean, efficient power and energy management. Altairnano's lithium-titanate based battery systems are among the highest performing and most scalable, with applications that include complete energy storage systems for use in providing frequency regulation and renewables integration for the electric grid, and battery modules and systems for transportation and industrial applications. For more information please visit Altair at www.altairnano.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This report may contain forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, may involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Altair's actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this report. These risks include the risk that the government entities with which Altair has contracted will be unable to fulfill their commitment due to legal limitations, including certain procedures required in connection with land use grants and major product purchases; that the government entities will not fulfill their commitments for political or other discretionary reasons, in which case Altair will have no, or limited, remedies; that Altair will run into regulatory, finance or other obstacles as it attempts to expand its operations into China; that Altair may be harmed by the absence from the Agreement of terms and conditions that are customary in contracts under U.S. law; that Altair will be unable to expand capacity (or contract with third parties) in order to meet the demand of product orders, particularly products like electric vehicles which Altair does not itself manufacture; that Altair will not experience expected costs savings as a result of its expansion into China and that Altair will not experience an increase in sales volume or, even if it experiences such an increase, that Altair will experience low (or negative) gross margins and not operate profitably in China. Other risks are identified in Altair's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Altair expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in Altair expectations or results or any change in events.