RENO, Nev., Dec. 2, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) announced today that its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary, completed the acquisition of the Geotérmica Platanares geothermal project in Honduras from ELCOSA, a privately owned Honduran energy company, upon satisfaction of the required conditions precedent. Ormat will hold the assets under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) structure for approximately 15 years, including the project's wells, land, permits and a Power Purchase Agreement for up to 35 megawatt with ENEE, the national utility of Honduras.
Platanares is a late-stage development geothermal project where previous owners have conducted exploration work. Ormat plans to begin phased development at the project and start drilling wells early next year. Once the well field is appraised, the company will determine the expected capacity and begin construction on the first phase anticipated to be approximately 18 MW and to reach commercial operation in about three years.
"We are very excited to kick off the first geothermal project in Honduras through this partnership with ELCOSA, a strong local renewable player," said Yoram Bronicki, president and COO of Ormat. "We've had great success implementing our technology and our phased development methodology worldwide and we plan to repeat this success in Honduras.
"This exciting development supports our strategy to expand our global footprint in areas where demand for electricity is strong and Ormat can deliver clean, base-load renewable power from local resources. This project along with other prospects will support our growth for 2016 and beyond."
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 1600 MW of gross capacity. Ormat's current generating portfolio of 595 MW (net) 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
[email protected]
Investor Relations Contact:
Todd Fromer/Rob FinkKCSA Strategic Communications
212-896-1215 (Fromer)/212-896-1206 (Fink)
[email protected] / [email protected]
Source: Ormat Technologies, Inc.