SPARKS, Nevada, Jan. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ORMAT Technologies, Inc., today announced that on December 30, 2005 its subsidiary, Puna Geothermal Venture ("PGV") completed the second stage of a two-stage refinancing agreement for its Puna Geothermal Project in Hawaii.
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As announced on May 17, 2005, Ormat's subsidiary PGV entered into a 31-year head lease, the first stage of the two-stage transaction, with an unrelated company (the "Lessor"). A secondary stage of the transaction was intended to refinance two new geothermal wells for production and injection. The drilling of the two wells was successfully completed in XX. The completion of the drilling, together with meeting certain other operation conditions that were agreed upon between the Lessor and PGV, enabled the parties to supplement the original agreement by entering into a similar operating lease transaction in the amount of $12.0 million for the additional wells. The completion of this secondary stage brings the total Project financing to $83.0 million.
Commenting on the completion of the second stage of the financing, Dita Bronicki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ormat, said: "The execution of this stage proved our ability to successfully develop the geothermal field in Puna and expand the plant's generating capacity to 30 MW. Completing this stage and meeting all of the operational conditions by the end of the year, as agreed upon with the Lessor back in May, confirms our operational excellence".
She continued: "We are now ready to turn our attention to the development of the next phase of the Puna project which will add 8 MW to the existing facility and is expected to come on line before the end of 2007".
About Ormat Technologies
Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a vertically integrated company primarily engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. The Company designs, develops, builds, owns and operates geothermal power plants.
It also designs, develops and builds, and plans to own and operate, recovered energy-based power plants. Additionally, the Company designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and recovered energy power units and other power generating equipment, and provides related services. Ormat products and systems are covered by more than 70 patents. Ormat currently has operations in the United States, Israel, the Philippines, Guatemala, Kenya, and Nicaragua.
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's Annual report on Form 10-K/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2005.
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: Investor Relations Contact
Dita Bronicki Jeff Corbin/Todd Fromer
CEO and President KCSA Worldwide
+1-775-356-9029 212-896-1214/212-896-1215
