2011-10-27

Negotiations between Solar Millennium AG and solarhybrid AG are on track

Erlangen, 27 October 2011 Negotiations between Solar Millennium AG and solarhybrid AG concerning the sale of Solar Millennium's US project pipeline are proceeding according to plan. The final decision on the conclusion of the transaction is expected in the near future, once the due diligence audits have been completed on both sides. Both parties work towards a positive outcome.

Subject of the planned transaction is the sale of the power plant projects in the southwest of the USA to solarhybrid. Solar Millennium will partake in the financial gain resulting from the power plant realisation based on photovoltaic technology. In line with the transaction, Solar Millennium AG will also realign the integration of its current subsidiary, Solar Trust of America(STA).

In the summer of 2011, parabolic trough technology, which was originally earmarked for the American solar power plants, turned out to not to be in the economic interests of Solar Millennium AG's shareholders. The group had intended to employ the newest collector generation, HelioTrough, which has been tested successfully in the USA since 2009. After comprehensive tests, the American authorities had already granted all of the required approvals for the construction of the Blythe power plant project in California based on HelioTrough technology.

solarhybrid and Solar Millennium entered executive-level talks in mid-2011 regarding a technological and economic cooperation. Prof. Michael Fischer, member of the supervisory board at Solar Millennium AG, who also holds an interest in solarhybrid AG, disclosed his stake in the company from the very beginning of the negotiations and consistently abstained from voting on any question regarding the cooperation with solarhybrid dealt with by Solar Millennium AG's supervisory board.

About Solar Millennium AG:

Solar Millennium AG (ISIN DE0007218406), Erlangen, 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. Additional projects are planned around the world. The current regional focus is on Spain, 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.