Ormat Technologies Announces Financial Closing and First Drawdown on Non-Recourse OPIC Project Financing for the Platanares Geothermal Power Plant in Honduras

RENO, Nev., Oct. 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary has completed the financial closing of Tranche I under the previously announced Finance Agreement totaling up to $124.7 million for the 35 MW Platanares geothermal power plant in Honduras, with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), United States government’s development finance institution, as the sole lender.

Following the closing, Ormat received a disbursement of $114.7 million representing the full amount of Tranche I of the OPIC non-recourse project finance loan that will carry a fixed interest rate of 7.02% per annum with a maturity of approximately 14 years. The closing of the second tranche of up to $10 million is expected during the first half of 2019.

“Ormat has maintained a long and mutually beneficial relationship with OPIC, and this financing expands and extends that relationship while also bringing renewable power to Honduras. We are encouraged by the great interest and high demand this financing received in OPIC’s funding process from investors who share the vision of OPIC and Ormat to create a sustainable energy solution for the people of Honduras, while advancing economic and social development in the region,” commented Isaac Angel, CEO of Ormat Technologies.

“OPIC’s longstanding partnership with Ormat is helping bring needed electricity to the developing world,” said Ray W. Washburne, OPIC President and CEO. “Our financing to this project in Honduras will bring a reliable source of renewable power to the country and help promote economic growth and stability.”

ABOUT OPIC

OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help address critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets, catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds, when commercial funding cannot be obtained elsewhere. Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers.

All OPIC projects adhere to high environmental and social standards and respect human rights, including worker's rights. By mandating high standards, OPIC aims to raise the industry and regional standards of the countries where it funds projects. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 160 countries worldwide.

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 77 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 770 overseas. Ormat’s flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for 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 2,600 MW of gross capacity. Ormat’s current 862 MW generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe. Ormat expanded its operations to provide energy storage and energy management solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. subsidiary, a Philadelphia-based Company with nearly a decade of expertise and leadership in energy storage, demand response and energy management.

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 Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on June 19, 2018 and Form 10Q for the second quarter 2018 filed with the SEC on August 8, 2018.

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.