Ormat Desert Peak Aims to be First U.S. Commercial Power Project Using EGS

RENO, Nev., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Work has begun on the first application of an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) utilizing a production well at a commercial geothermal site. This project will demonstrate the viability of EGS and the technology's potential to generate clean, renewable baseload geothermal electricity in many areas throughout the country, Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA) announced today.

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Ormat, the US Department of Energy (DOE), GeothermEx Inc., and other stakeholders will apply EGS technology to increase geothermal production from well number DP 27-15 at Ormat's Desert Peak facility near Reno, Nevada. EGS technology enhances the permeability of underground strata making it possible to extract additional heat from a reservoir's rocks. Support for the project includes $1.6 million in direct DOE funding, more than two decades of development work at five national laboratories, working capital from Ormat, and the use of existing wells and facilities at the Ormat site.

"Ormat anticipates Desert Peak will be the country's first commercial project to tap into an EGS resource and produce substantial levels of electricity providing a rebirth for certain geothermal prospects in the U.S.," said Ormat Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Lucien Bronicki. "Our objective in the Desert Peak EGS project is to demonstrate that EGS technology can achieve its potential of providing 100,000 MW of clean, base-load power, as identified in last year's DOE study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and show that this technology will enable geothermal electricity to be produced in regions where it is not currently economically viable," he added.

Bronicki noted that the participants in this R&D project, include in addition to DOE and GeothermEx, also Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, University of Utah EGI, TerraTek, Pinnacle Technologies and US Geological Survey.

Commenting on the potential of the Desert Peak Resource, Subir Sanyal, President of GeothermEx said: "The Desert Peak resource, which currently supports 11 MW of electricity production from a conventional geothermal resource, is likely to have the potential to support 50 MW or more from an EGS development."

The Technology & Site

Ormat air-cooled power plants are the technology of choice for EGS developments, as they don't consume water in the conversion of energy into electricity; all the geothermal fluid is re-injected back to the ground, to be produced again after heating in the EGS reservoir.

The Ormat/GeothermEx-DOE program at Desert Peak follows on research started over two decades ago at the DOE's National Laboratories, and joins Europe, Australia and Japan, which have made significant progress with EGS over the past few years. This first phase of the DP 27-15 project will use the shared funding to field test the technology in an existing sub-commercial well. Any additional fluid produced from the well will then be use in the existing Ormat power plant at Desert Peak to efficiently generate commercial electricity for sale into the Northern Nevada power grid. In addition, the parties are planning to utilize the EGS facilities at Desert Peak as a potential test site for future technology developments.

The Brady/Desert Peak Geothermal Complex is one of five (5) geothermal facility complexes which Ormat owns and operates in the USA, producing a total of approximately 260 MW from conventional hydrothermal resources.

    For more information contact: Stuart Johnson at 775-356-9029 ext. 2215.

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 and 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 operates the following geothermal and recovered energy-based power plants: in the United States -- Brady, Heber, Mammoth, Ormesa, Puna, Steamboat and OREG 1; in Guatemala -- Zunil and Amatitlan; in Kenya -- Olkaria; and in Nicaragua -- Momotombo.

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 12, 2007 and the Prospectus Supplement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 23, 2007.

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                            Todd Fromer / Marybeth Csaby
     CEO                                      KCSA Strategic Communications
     +1-775-356-9029                          212-896-1215/212-896-1236
     dbronicki@ormat.com                      tfromer@kcsa.com/mcsaby@kcsa.com


SOURCE  Ormat Technologies
    -0-                             02/14/2008
    /CONTACT:  Dita Bronicki, CEO of Ormat Technologies, +1-775-356-9029,
dbronicki@ormat.com; or Investor Relations, Todd Fromer, +1-212-896-1215,
tfromer@kcsa.com, or Marybeth Csaby, +1-212-896-1236, mcsaby@kcsa.com, both of
KCSA Strategic Communications, for Ormat Technologies/
    /Photo:  NewsCom:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080214/LATH093
             http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040422/LATH066LOGO
             AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.ormat.com /
    (ORA)

CO:  Ormat Technologies; US Department of Energy; GeothermEx Inc.
ST:  Nevada
IN:  OIL
SU:  PDT

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5584 02/14/2008 14:48 EST http://www.prnewswire.com