Ormat Breaks Ground on New Geothermal Power Plant

Ormat Technologies (ORA) broke ground today on the first geothermal electric generating plant to be built at Steamboat, Nevada since 1991. Known as the Galena Geothermal Project, when completed the plant will be added to the existing Steamboat geothermal plants and bring the total output from this geothermal complex to 44 megawatts of electricity through a process that extracts and re-injects the hot geothermal waters from the ground. One megawatt of electricity can supply energy up to approximately 1,000 typical homes in the area.

Pumpernickel Valley Geothermal Project: Inovision to Spend $5,000,000 to Earn 50% Joint Venture Interest

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGLPF) announced that Inovision Solutions Inc. (ISI), a TSX-V listed company, will fund up to C$5,000,000 in exploration and development expenditures for the Pumpernickel Geothermal Project under an option agreement to earn a 50% joint venture interest. In order to earn its interest, ISI must complete C$5,000,000 in project expenditures, make C$120,000 in cash payments and issue 600,000 shares to NGP over a five year period. In the first year, ISI must fund a C$400,000 work program, issue 100,000 shares and make a C$10,000 cash payment to maintain its option. NGP will be project...

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. Commences Blue Mountain Development Drilling

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGLPF) announced that it has initiated development drilling at Blue Mountain Nevada. Production test data from the wells will be used to complete a feasibility study for an initial 30 MW geothermal power plant. In the initial program, four 13-inch diameter production wells will be drilled to 4000 feet (1200 metres) into the moderate temperature (300-330 degrees C) geothermal resource intersected in previous test holes. Permits have been obtained and drill pads are under construction. A water well rig will be used to drill the top 800 feet of each well and to...

Ormat Technologies (ORA): The 500-Pound Gorilla of Geothermal Power

Tom Konrad, CFA  Ormat is the 500-pound gorilla of the geothermal power industry.  Should you buy the stock? I've owned Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA) stock off and on since I first began to invest seriously in clean energy companies.  At one of the first renewable energy conferences I attended five years ago as part of my quest to understand the renewable energy investing landscape, I encountered a representative of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA).  Here's how I recall our conversation: Me: "What are a few of the leading geothermal power companies?" GEA Rep: "Ormat." Me: "Are they...

Money Is Flowing Into Alt Energy Again, But We Are Not Out Of The...

Charles MorandIt seems as though the darkest clouds are finally dissipating over alt energy's financing horizon. Over the past few weeks, money has started flowing into the sector again, as evidenced by a number of recent deal announcements: On June 9, I reported on the upcoming IPO for Magma Energy Corp., a geothermal exploration company. The IPO's size will be upped from an initial C$50 MM to C$100 MM, a sign of increased market appetite  SunPower Corp. raised $418 MM in early May through a share and debt offering, and recently announced it had reached a $100...

Raser Technologies (RZ): A Bargain, or Just Cheap?

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Raser Technologies (NYSE:RZ) stock has fallen almost 50% since the company announce an offering of shares on June 30.  Although the round quickly filled, the stock continued falling, and it seems like a screaming deal.  Is it? On July 7, Raser Technologies sold $25.5M of stock and warrants in a secondary offering.  According to press reports, this amounted to 13% of Raser's stock, thereby valuing the company at (very approximately) $200M, or $175M pre-money.   The units, each consisting of 1 share and 1/2 a warrant exercisable at $4.62 was offered at $2.98. ...

Will The Recovery Act Trigger Alt Energy IPOs?

Charles MorandIt goes without saying that the alt energy IPO market has been rather quiet over the past few months. Could this be about to change? Will the slew of alt energy and cleatech incentive programs announced under the Recovery Act, coupled with a return of investors' risk appetite, be enough to convince firms to start going public again? On Monday, I had a chat with Robert Peterman, who handles cleantech for the TMX Group, the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of the TSX Venture Exchange. In the past few years, Toronto has attracted a number...

Ram Power Negotiates for Higher Revenue

Tom Konrad CFA Geothermal well photo via Bigstock Ram Power (OTC:RAMPF, TSX:RPG) recently provided an update on progress at its flagship San Jacinto project in Nicaragua.  This was the project where cost overruns and construction delays last year sent the stock plummeting from over C$2 a share to around C$0.50 a share at the start of the year.  The decline has continued, despite the fact that the project seems back on track with the hiring of a new subcontractor, and the stock now trades...

Oil Money Needed for Geothermal Projects

By Dana Blankenhorn Despite America's leadership in geothermal the industry remains in the “and” category. As in, “solar, wind, tidal, biofuels AND geothermal.” It's an afterthought. (Picture from Evergreen State University.) Why are geothermal companies having to organize politically to gain crumbs from the capital table? The answer is pretty obvious, but no one seems willing to state it plainly. The oil industry is holding back. A recent Time Magazine article on renewables and oil investment makes it pretty plain. Total's bought into solar, Shell and BP into biofuels. Chile's state oil-and-gas company sold-out its geothermal interests...

Outlook for Geothermal Energy Stocks in 2011

Tom Konrad CFA My take-aways from the GEA Finance Forum After a long time lost in the proverbial desert of high capital costs and few financiers willing to step up, a number of geothermal companies made breakthroughs last fall.  The Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees for geothermal power development began to come through, and financiers were beginning to step up.  Nevada Geothermal Power (NGLPF.OB) announced a deal with Ormat (ORA) in which Ormat will earn a share of Nevada Geothermal's Crump Geyser property by paying for and financing most of the development costs,...

Is Ormat Technologies Misunderstood?

by Debra Fiakas CFA Olkaria III Geothermal Power Plant, Kenya Shares of geothermal power developer and utility Ormat Technologies (ORA:  NYSE) are trading at 24.7 times the consensus estimate for 2013.  That seems pricey on the surface, but the stock is down from a 52-week high of $22.24.  The stock gaps up and down with regularity, suggesting ORA is a battle ground for bulls and bears.  The fact that the 50-day moving average price continues to descend toward the longer-term 200-day average, hints that maybe the bears are...

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.: Geophysical Survey completed at Pumpernickel Geothermal Project, Nevada

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. (NGLPF) reported the completion of a geophysical survey at the Pumpernickel geothermal project in Nevada. The project is managed by Nevada Geothermal Power Company (a subsidiary of NGP), as Exploration Manager. The final report is pending, however a preliminary assessment of the data shows that the survey successfully defined the contact between the valley fill and the basement rocks, and most importantly it established the positions of valley faults and their relationship to the geothermal system. The data showed a good correlation with the 2005 resistivity data. The combined data will aid significantly...

Ormat Technologies Enters Into Power Purchase Agreement for the Supply of 22 MW from...

Ormat Technologies (ORA) announced that through a newly established project subsidiary, it has entered into a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with an electric utility according to which ORMAT will supply approximately 22 MW from recovered energy generation power plants. The power plants are to be constructed by ORMAT between 12 and 18 months from the effectiveness of the PPA. The power plants will be constructed on gas compressor stations along a Natural Gas pipeline in the Midwestern United States.

When Will the Geothermal Power Slump End?

By Dana Blankenhorn Of all the energy harvesting technologies out there, geothermal remains the most maddening. In theory, there should be more than enough energy below our feet to power our world, and it should be cost-competitive for a fraction of the investment needed in wind or solar. In theory. Right now, the extraction of geothermal energy in the U.S. remains tied to Nevada and California, where the heat is close enough to the surface and in stable enough formations that a drill can reach it without the heat dissipating quickly. This has caused investors to sour on...

US Geothermal: Wringing Profits From Hot Rocks

by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week I spent the better part of a day listening to presentations of energy companies at the Wall Street Analyst Forum in New York.  Although I had heard the management of  US Geothermal (HTM: NYSE) tell the company’s story before, I was impressed to hear about the progress the company has made in squeezing profits from electricity produced with turbines run by underground steam.  Management called it gratifying! The company reported $31 million in sales in the year 2014, delivering $14.9 million in net income to the bottom line.  That is something...

Geothermal: The Other Base Load Power

Last Thursday and Friday I attended the Geopowering the West Investors' Forum in Montrose, CO (hosted by the Delta-Montrose Electric Association, Colorado's most progressive Rural Electric Cooperative.)  I've long been interested in geothermal stocks, and I first started adding them to managed portfolios in 2003.  As a whole, those stocks have more than doubled in the 1-4 years since they were purchased. Fundamental Advantages of Geothermal Electricity Why did I make those first purchases?  Geothermal power has some unique advantages over other forms of renewable energy. Geothermal is base load power.  Utilities have a strong preference towards...
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