Ormat Signs Two 20-Year Power Purchase Agreements

Two Ormat Technologies, Inc. subsidiaries have each signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Nevada Power Company, a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, for the sale of energy to be produced from the Carson Lake (near Fallon) and Buffalo Valley Power Plants, two new geothermal power plants to be built in Lander and Churchill Counties in northern Nevada.

The PPAs are subject to the approvals of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and FERC. The Carson Lake and Buffalo Valley projects are both projected to come on line in late 2009. These new plants are expected to increase the total output supplied from Ormat to Sierra Pacific Resources by between 36 and 60 megawatts (MWs).

These agreements are the eleventh and twelfth PPAs between Ormat and Sierra Pacific Resources, and the fifth and sixth executed since the enactment of Nevada’s aggressive renewable portfolio standard legislation in 2001, which requires up to 20 percent of all electricity generated in Nevada be derived from new renewable energy sources by the end of 2015. The Nevada RPS will be phased in over several years. These two new PPA’s will help Sierra to meet the interim commitment that requires up to 12% of energy from renewable sources by the end of 2009.

Lucien Bronicki, chairman of Ormat said, “These new agreements characterize over two decades of successful collaboration with Sierra Pacific to develop Nevada’s vast geothermal potential, estimated at over 1500 MWs. Today, we are a step closer in helping to make Nevada a leader in geothermal power usage. Sierra Pacific Resources should be commended for entering into agreements to purchase power produced by renewable sources, such as geothermal energy, which lowers CO2 emissions and reduces the dependence of Nevada on energy imports.”

The Carson Lake and Buffalo Valley projects will consist of state of the art air-cooled binary or combined steam/binary power plants that re-inject 100 percent of all geothermal fluid produced, while consuming no water or chemicals. Additionally, geothermal power works continuously and thus the new plants will provide base load power 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.