BHI USA, the US division of Bank Hapoalim, is providing a $75 million loan to Ormat Technologies to finance the Group’s acquisition of a subsidiary of Enel Group in the US for $271 million.
Ormat Technologies is a leading geothermal company and is the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovery energy generation (REG). Its activities are primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter, a power generation unit that converts low-, medium-, and high-temperature heat into electricity. The company has plans to accelerate its long-term growth in the energy storage market.Based in Reno, Nevada, the Group engineers, manufactures, and constructs power plants, which it owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide.Ormat will use the proceeds of the loan for the January 4 acquisition of Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA), which cost $271 million for 100% of the equity interest in the portfolio assets. EGPNA is a subsidiary of Enel Group, an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas.
Portfolio of the acquired subsidiary
EGPNA’s portfolio includes two contracted operating geothermal power plants and one triple hybrid geothermal, solar PV, and solar thermal power plant, two Solar assets, and two greenfield development assets.
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BHI USA has facilitated these transactions. “Ormat’s highly experienced management team has positioned the company with a strong balance sheet and capital structure along with a geographically diverse plant portfolio, supported by long-term Power Purchase Agreements, which provide highly visible, secure cash flows,” said Uri Shusterman, First Vice President at BHI.
“We anticipate that this strategic foresight, coupled with favorable regulatory and policy tailwinds, will help further propel the company as it continues to pursue expansion plans and strategies to utilize their equipment to enhance the efficiencies and output of their growing portfolio of power plant assets,” he concluded.The Chief Financial Officier of Ormat, Assi Ginzburg, stated, “Working with the team at BHI, it became clear that they had a comprehensive understanding of not only the scale of our operations today, but also aligned with our outlook on how we plan to fund our expansion by developing new assets and deploying our technology to enhance their operation. We’re excited for our continued partnership and growth ahead.”
