24 MW Tungsten Mountain Geothermal Power Plant in Nevada Begins Commercial Operation

RENO, Nev., Dec. 21, 2017 -- Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ORA) today announced that the 24 MW Tungsten Mountain geothermal power plant located in Churchill County, Nevada, began commercial operation on December 1, 2017. Tungsten Mountain will sell its power under the 26-year Ormat Northern Nevada Geothermal Portfolio Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), which was announced in June 2017. SCPPA resells the entire output of the plant to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The power plant is expected to generate approximately $15 million in average annual revenue.

The Tungsten Mountain geothermal power plant utilizes Ormat’s latest turbine design, and is the largest Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) ever installed.  Utilizing the new generation of Ormat turbines will allow the Tungsten Mountain project to generate an average net output of 24 MW from a single OEC instead of two OECs, as would have been required before this new design became available. This reduced the CapEx invested in manufacturing and constructing the power plant, and is expected to significantly reduce the power plant’s operating costs. The new and innovative turbine design will increase the OEC efficiency, capacity, and availability.

Isaac Angel, CEO of Ormat Technologies said, “Commercial operation of the Tungsten Mountain project brings our operating portfolio to a total of 800 MW, demonstrating double-digit growth of our portfolio since the beginning of the year. This growth will provide a meaningful contribution to our results in 2018 and beyond. The innovative Tungsten Mountain geothermal power plant is the first power plant to sell power under the portfolio PPA with SCPPA that we announced earlier this year. The Tungsten Mountain power plant is a greenfield project that was built at a record pace, demonstrating again Ormat’s competitive advantage as the only vertically integrated company in the geothermal industry. Our unique capabilities of both developing resources and utilizing proprietary technology enables us to deliver on time and on budget, while constantly improving our technology to maximize efficiencies.”

“We are very pleased that Ormat Technologies has begun commercial operation of the first of multiple geothermal facilities that will bring renewable power to Los Angeles, helping to create a clean energy future for our city,” said Reiko Kerr, Senior Assistant General Manager – Power System Engineering, Planning, and Technical Services. “Since geothermal energy is a renewable resource that is available all the time—unlike variable wind and solar energy—it offers flexibility and the ability to dispatch for use whenever it’s needed. That helps LADWP to make the transition away from coal power while maintaining a reliable power supply for Los Angeles.”

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 73 U.S. patents, Ormat’s power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has 530 employees in the United States and 720 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 installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling over 2,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat is the largest US-based geothermal operator with its current 800 MW generating portfolio spread globally in the U.S., Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Indonesia and Kenya. Ormat also intends to expand its operations and provide energy management and energy storage solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence.

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 1, 2017.

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.

Ormat Technologies Contact:
Smadar Lavi
VP Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
775-356-9029 (ext. 65726)
[email protected]

Investor Relations Agency Contact:
Rob Fink
Hayden - IR
646-415-8972
[email protected]