Solar Power Company Ausra Launches First Solar Thermal Plant in California in Nearly...

Solar Power Company Ausra Launches First Solar Thermal Plant in California in
Nearly 20 Years
Governor Schwarzenegger on Hand as Next Generation Solar Technology Provides
Power and Industrial Steam on Cost-Competitive Basis

BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Ausra, Inc.
(http://www.ausra.com) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today
launched the company's Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield,
CA, showcasing the company's "next generation" concentrating solar thermal
technology.
Governor Schwarzenegger joined Ausra President, CEO and Chairman Bob
Fishman, U.S. Reps. Jim Costa (CA-20) and Kevin McCarthy (CA-22), California
Assemblymember Jean Fuller and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) CEO Peter
Darbee in launching a new era of solar thermal power with the turning of
Ausra's large solar thermal mirrors - harvesting California sunshine and
creating California jobs.
"This plant proves that our technology is real, it works, and it's ready
to power businesses or provide process steam for industries . now," said
Fishman. "Ausra is first on the market, providing customers a dependable,
cost-effective solar thermal energy system. Some of the best investment minds
in the country have backed our technology and our management team's ability to
deliver."
At full output, Kimberlina will be able to generate 5 megawatts of
electricity, enough to power 3,500 homes in central California. The Kimberlina
plant is the first solar plant in the country to utilize Ausra's next
generation technology, and it is the first solar thermal power plant of any
type built in California in nearly 20 years.
"This next generation solar power plant is further evidence that reliable,
renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay, and it will lead to
more California homes and businesses powered by sunshine," said Governor
Schwarzenegger. "Not only will this large-scale solar facility generate power
to help us meet our renewable energy goals, it will also generate new jobs as
California continues to pioneer the clean-tech industry."
The Palo Alto, CA-based company, a large-scale solar thermal energy
developer and manufacturer, has dropped solar power's costs by simplifying the
design of its systems. This also results in the most land-use efficient solar
technology. Ausra has demonstrated its ability to manufacture its systems
rapidly with a state-of-the-art factory in Las Vegas, NV that can mass produce
Ausra's 1,000-foot mirror lines using standard materials to deploy and scale
up quickly. The Kimberlina plant was built in seven months.
In addition to providing reliable, cost-effective electricity, the
Kimberlina plant also demonstrates Ausra's ability to provide solar mirror
fields for industries that need high-temperature steam for their factories,
either as retrofits or as part of new plant construction. A range of
industries use this "process steam," including: enhanced oil recovery and oil
refining; food processing; and pulp and paper manufacturing.
The Kimberlina facility will also serve as the gateway toward developing
Ausra's Carrizo Plains solar power plant. In November 2007, Ausra and
California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced a power
purchase agreement for the 177-megawatt power plant in central California.
When completed, Ausra's Carrizo facility will generate enough electricity to
power more than 120,000 homes.
Unlike photovoltaic solar panels, which convert the light from the sun
into electricity and are commonly rooftop mounted, solar thermal facilities
use large fields of mirrors to concentrate and capture the sun's heat,
converting it into useful forms of energy. In Ausra's technology, heat is
focused on tubes of water to create steam that drives large power turbines,
generating clean, reliable electricity and high-temperature, "process" steam
for industrial applications.
About Ausra, Inc.
Ausra delivers energy from the sun. The company provides solar power,
steam and energy systems for industrial processes and utility-scale
electricity generation. The company is a leader in solar thermal energy
design, development and manufacturing, and is committed to serving the global
energy needs of its customers in a dependable, market-competitive and
environmentally responsible manner. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Ausra
is a privately held company with operations in the United States and
Australia. To learn more about Ausra and solar thermal energy, visit
www.ausra.com.
SOURCE Ausra, Inc.

Mark Sokolove, +1-703-302-8382 (work), +1-703-599-7656 (cell),
mark@tigercomm.us, or Brian Mahar, +1-703-302-8393 (work), +1-202-437-6595
(cell), bmahar@tigercomm.us, both for Ausra, Inc.; or Katherine Potter of
Ausra, Inc., +1-650-543-6733 (work), +1-408-398-6611 (cell),
kpotter@ausra.com