Ormat and Solar Millennium to Participate in the Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Plant Tender

RENO, Nev., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA), announced today that its Israeli subsidiary, Ormat Systems Ltd. ("Ormat"), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Solar Millennium AG to form a consortium to participate in the tender to develop, construct and operate a solar thermal power plant at "Ashalim" in Israel with a total capacity of approximately 120 megawatts (MW). Solar Millennium is a German stock corporation, specialized in the worldwide development and realization of solar thermal power plants.

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Under the MOU, Solar Millennium will provide the technology for the solar field, while Ormat will supply the power block, balance of plant and construction services.  Ormat will own approximately 68 percent of the consortium and Solar Millennium will own approximately 32 percent.  Both parties have successfully passed the pre-qualification stage and were invited to submit the bid within the tender for plot A.

The tender is a BOT (build, operate and transfer) solar thermal power plant, on land owned and provided by the Israeli government. The produced electricity is fed into the grid of Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). The term of BOT will be approximately 25 years.

The Ashalim project will mark a further expansion into the solar energy market by renewable energy leader, Ormat Technologies. Ormat has more than four decades of experience in the development, construction, financing and operation of some 1300 megawatts of renewable energy projects world-wide. Solar Millennium is one of the leading companies in the solar thermal power plant market and has developed the first European parabolic trough power plants. These 50 MW each solar power plants in the South of Spain have been realized together with partners. Solar Millennium is also developing or realizing further plants in Egypt, the U.S. and other countries.

Lucien Y. Bronicki, Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer of Ormat Technologies, said: "The collaboration with Solar Millennium brings together two industry leaders in renewable energy. Ormat roots in solar energy go back four decades with the development of its first solar pumping unit in Africa, through the solar pond development in El-Paso Texas in the 80's, which was the predecessor of our geothermal power plant. Recently we entered the solar PV market through a joint venture that develops medium size solar PV power plants. The Ashalim opportunity, if successful, will expand our solar activities to solar thermal, where we have technological expertise."

About Ormat Technologies

Ormat Technologies, Inc. is the only vertically-integrated company primarily engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. The Company designs, develops, owns and operates geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants around the world. Additionally, the Company designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and recovered energy power units and other power-generating equipment, and provides related services. The Company has more than four decades of experience in the development of environmentally-sound power, primarily in geothermal and recovered-energy generation. Ormat products and systems are covered by 75 U.S. patents. Ormat has engineered and built power plants, that it currently owns or has supplied to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 1300 MW of gross capacity.  Ormat's current generating portfolio includes the following geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants: in the United States - Brady, Brawley, Heber, Mammoth, Ormesa, Puna, Steamboat, OREG 1, OREG 2, OREG 3 and Peetz; in Guatemala - Zunil and Amatitlan; in Kenya – Olkaria III; and, in Nicaragua - Momotombo.

About Solar Millennium

About Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, is an international company in the renewable energy sector, with its main focus on solar-thermal power plants. Together with its subsidiaries and associates, the Company specializes in parabolic trough power plants and has managed to take a globally leading position in this field. Solar Millennium strives to further extend its expertise in the area of solar-thermal power plants with the aim of achieving and securing sustainable technology leadership. As such, the Company covers all important business sectors along the value chain for solar-thermal power plants: from project development and financing to the technology and the turnkey construction and operation of power plants. In Spain, Solar Millennium developed Europe's first parabolic trough power plants and realized these together with partners. Additional projects are planned around the world with an overall capacity of more than 2,000 MW: here the current regional focus is on Spain, the U.S., India, China, the Middle East and North Africa. More information is available at www.SolarMillennium.com.

About solar-thermal power plant technology:

Solar-thermal power plants generate electricity by converting solar radiation into heat energy. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors concentrate the incidental radiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. Its absorption heats a fluid heat medium in the pipe, generating steam in the power block through a heat exchanger. As in conventional power plants, the steam powers a turbine to generate electricity. By integrating thermal storage, electricity can be supplied on demand, even after sunset.

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 8, 2010.

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.

SOURCE Ormat Technologies, Inc.