Ormat’s Puna Geothermal Venture and Hawaiian Electric Announce Amended Power Purchase Agreement

RENO, Nev., Jan. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies, Inc.¹ (NYSE: ORA) today announced that its subsidiary, Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV), and Hawaiian Electric’s Hawaii Electric Light subsidiary have reached an agreement on an amended and restated power purchase agreement (PPA) for dispatchable geothermal power sold from Ormat’s Puna complex, located on the Big Island of Hawai’i. 

The new PPA extends the term until 2052 with an increased contract capacity of 46MW and a fixed price of $70.00/MWh with no escalation, regardless of changes to fossil fuel pricing. The amended PPA was filed with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on December 31, 2019 for its review and approval, which is anticipated during 2020.

Ormat is planning to replace ten 25-year-old steam units with two new Ormat binary units and to upgrade the existing auxiliary equipment. This upgraded facility will utilize the same amount of geothermal resource that the existing 38 MW facility requires. The modern equipment, with increased efficiency, will increase the Puna complex generating capacity by 8 MW to a total of 46 MW and will significantly reduce the operating costs. The commercial operation date (COD) of the new plant is expected during the first half of 2022. The existing PPA remains in effect, with current terms, until the expansion is completed, and the new plant reaches its COD.

The 38 MW Puna power plant has been shut down since the volcanic eruption and we are on track to bring it to full capacity by the end of the second quarter of 2020.  

“Ormat’s reconstruction efforts to bring the 38MW complex back to operation are underway, and we continue our geothermal field recovery work. We expect to be able to sell the electricity produced at PGV as soon as we receive the relevant permits required from local authorities,” commented Isaac Angel, Ormat’s Chief Executive Officer. “According to the amended PPA, we expect the total revenue from energy and capacity payments, including the new 8 MW generating capacity, to be approximately 5 to 7% higher than the prior levels before the eruption.”

“We are proud to partner with Hawaiian Electric and enable Hawai’i’s commitment to clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As Hawai’i continues to pursue the goal of achieving 100% of its electricity generation from renewable sources, PGV is an increasingly critical source of renewable energy and capacity, unaffected by volatile fossil fuel pricing, in this region,” said Mr. Angel.

“For nearly 30 years, Puna Geothermal has been an important resource that has enabled Hawaii Island to significantly reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels,” said Sharon Suzuki, president of Hawaiian Electric’s Maui County and Hawai‘i Island utilities. “We appreciate the willingness of the Ormat team to work with us on an amended contract that benefits customers and accelerates our transition to 100 percent renewable energy.”

ABOUT ORMAT TECHNOLOGIES

With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (“REG”), with the objective of becoming a leading global provider of renewable energy. 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 77 U.S. patents, Ormat’s power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has 584 employees in the United States and 762 overseas. Ormat’s flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for vast range of resource characteristics. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling over 2,900 MW of gross capacity. Ormat’s current 917 MW generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe. Ormat expanded its operations to provide energy storage and energy management solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. subsidiary.

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’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 1, 2019 and from time to time, in Ormat’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q that are filed with the SEC.

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.

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¹ Ormat Technologies, Inc. is also referred to herein as the “Company”, “Ormat”, “we” or “us”