RENO, Nev., Feb. 4, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) announced today it successfully completed construction and reached commercial operation of Plant 3 in the Olkaria III geothermal power plant complex almost three months ahead of schedule. With Plant 3 online, the complex's total generation capacity has increased to 110 MW. The power generated by the Olkaria III complex, located in Naivasha, Kenya, is sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC).
The Olkaria III complex was financed with a $310 million debt facility provided by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). In November 2013, Ormat drew down the remaining $45 million available under the project finance debt facility for the completion of Plant 3.
"Olkaria III is a prime example of our multi-stage approach to project development generating higher investment returns and reducing risk. In less than one year, we've completed construction of two additional plants and, over the course of five years, more than doubled the facility's generating capacity. Due to our operational expertise and innovative technology, we've accomplished that growth ahead of schedule resulting in a significant increase in revenues," said Dita Bronicki, chief executive officer of Ormat. "As we complete this project, we remain committed to support the growing power needs of Kenya with this indigenous, reliable and environmentally friendly source of electricity. Kenya is an important market for our future growth due to its high geothermal potential and we are focusing our efforts on increasing our operation in Kenya."
About Ormat Technologies, Inc.
With over four decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company solely engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (REG). The company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter—a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. With over 82 U.S. patents, Ormat's power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has over 500 employees in the United States and about 600 overseas. Ormat's flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for the vast range of resource characteristics. The company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has supplied to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 1750 MW of gross capacity. Ormat's current generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Guatemala and Kenya.
Ormat's Safe Harbor Statement
Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to Ormat's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon its management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" as described in Ormat Technologies, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 11, 2013.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Ormat Technologies Contact:
Dita Bronicki
CEO
775-356-9029
dbronicki@ormat.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Rob Fink/Brad Nelson
KCSA Strategic Communications
212-896-1206 (Fink)/212-896-1217 (Nelson)
rfink@kcsa.com/bnelson@kcsa.com
