RENO, Nev., May 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA), a leading geothermal, energy storage, photovoltaic (PV) solar and recovered energy power company, today announced the successful resumption of operations at the Heber 1 power plant in California. This achievement comes after the plant temporarily shut down due to a fire incident that occurred in February 2022. This significant milestone is a testament to Ormat's operational execution and its commitment to providing reliable and sustainable energy solutions to communities in California.

In Nevada, Ormat completed a 6MW upgrade to the Dixie Valley power plant, which allows the Company to maximize its favorable long-term power purchase agreement. The upgrade involved the replacement of pre-acquisition equipment with Ormat’s state-of-the-art energy converters.

"The successful restart of the Heber 1 power plant marks a significant accomplishment for the Company," said Doron Blachar, Ormat’s Chief Executive Officer. "The replacement of the old water-cooled system with an air-cooled system has resulted in a substantial reduction in water consumption in the Imperial Valley. This upgrade not only enhances the plant's efficiency but also contributes to the conservation of vital water resources. The Heber complex, which includes Heber 1 and the repowered Heber 2, is expected to ramp up generation to approximately 87MW by the end of the third quarter, supporting our multi-year growth goals."

"We are also excited to have completed the upgrades at the Dixie Valley power plant,” Blachar added. "The Dixie Valley and Beowawe geothermal power plants in Nevada were acquired in 2021, and we have plans to upgrade both plants. With the Dixie Valley upgrade complete, we are now in the early stages of repowering Beowawe. Beowawe has received all required construction permits, and work on site is already underway and expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024. The Heber 1 and Dixie Valley expansions—along with the additional 50MW already brought online this year—demonstrates our dual commitment to advancing renewable power solutions while meeting our long-term financial growth targets."

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 robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. 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. The Company has engineered, manufactured, and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Company’s activity into energy storage services, PV solar and energy storage plus PV solar. Ormat’s current total generating portfolio is 1,214 MW with a 1,107 MW geothermal and solar generation portfolio that is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe, and a 107 MW energy storage portfolio that is located in the U.S.

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. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such matters as our projections of annual revenues, expenses and debt service coverage with respect to our debt securities, future capital expenditures, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, development or operation of generation assets, market and industry developments and the growth of our business and operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “projects”, “potential”, or “contemplate” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words or expressions. 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. Although we believe that our plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we may not achieve these plans or objectives. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties and other risks described under "Risk Factors" as described in Ormat’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 24, 2023, and in Ormat’s subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K that are filed from time to time with the SEC.

These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and, except as legally required, we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.