Ormat Commences Commercial Operation of the 80MW/320MWh Shirk Energy Storage Facility in California
Rhea-AI Summary
Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA) commenced commercial operations at the Shirk Energy Storage Facility, an 80MW/320MWh BESS in Visalia, California, on March 12, 2026. The project is backed by a 15-year Resource Adequacy Purchase and Sale Agreement with the City of Riverside and qualifies for a 40% Investment Tax Credit to be monetized via a previously announced hybrid tax equity partnership with Morgan Stanley Renewables.
The company cites long-term contracted revenues and tax-benefit monetization as strengthening the profitability and visibility of its energy storage portfolio while supporting California grid reliability.
Positive
- Commercial operation of an 80MW/320MWh BESS
- 15-year Resource Adequacy contract with City of Riverside
- 40% ITC eligibility monetized via hybrid tax equity partnership
Negative
- None.
News Market Reaction – ORA
In the Mar 12 session, ORA gained 1.54%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | 24h Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10 | PPA amendment | Positive | +0.9% | Blend-and-extend CD4 geothermal PPAs with higher pricing and longer terms. |
| Feb 25 | Earnings report | Positive | -9.1% | Reported 2025 revenue growth and issued 2026 guidance with dividend. |
| Feb 17 | Long-term PPA | Positive | +5.1% | Signed geothermal PPA up to 150 MW to support Google data centers. |
| Jan 21 | Strategic investment | Positive | +3.7% | Co-led $25M equity investment in Sage Geosystems for next-gen geothermal. |
| Jan 15 | New concession | Positive | -3.2% | Awarded Telaga Ranu geothermal concession with up to 40MW potential. |
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Recent news has generally been positive, with mostly aligned price reactions, but notable downside followed the latest earnings release.
Over the last few months, Ormat has reported multiple growth-oriented milestones, including a CD4 geothermal PPA amendment with pricing about 27% higher through 2037, strong 2025 revenues of $989.6M, and a long-term PPA of up to 150 MW to support Google’s data centers. It also invested $25M in Sage Geosystems and secured the Telaga Ranu concession with up to 40MW potential. Today’s storage facility commissioning extends this theme of contracted, long-duration capacity growth.
Key Terms
battery energy storage system technical
bess technical
resource adequacy purchase and sale agreement financial
investment tax credit financial
tax equity partnership financial
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
PROJECT BACKED BY LONG-TERM RESOURCE ADEQUACY CONTRACT AND INCLUDED IN PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED HYBRID TAX EQUITY PARTNERSHIP
RENO, Nev., March 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) (the “Company” or “Ormat”), a leading geothermal and renewable energy company, today announced the commencement of commercial operations at the Shirk energy storage facility, an 80MW/320MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) located in Visalia, California.
The Shirk facility secures capacity under a 15-year Resource Adequacy Purchase and Sale Agreement (RA Agreement) with the City of Riverside, supporting grid reliability and helping meet California’s growing demand for flexible energy resources. The project represents another milestone in Ormat’s continued expansion of a stable and profitable energy storage portfolio.
The Shirk project qualifies for a
Doron Blachar, Chief Executive Officer of Ormat Technologies, stated, "We are pleased to announce the commencement of operations at the Shirk Energy Storage Facility, another important milestone in the continued growth of our energy storage platform. This project further demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large-scale storage assets that provide critical reliability services to the grid while supporting California’s clean energy transition."
Blachar continued, "With long-term contracted revenues and the ability to monetize the project’s tax benefits through our previously announced hybrid tax equity partnership, Shirk strengthens the profitability and long-term visibility of our energy storage segment while advancing our strategy of building a diversified portfolio of contracted storage assets."
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 robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. 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. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,600MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Company’s activity into energy storage services, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage plus Solar PV. Ormat’s current total generating portfolio is 1,835MW with a 1,340MW geothermal and solar generation portfolio that is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe, and a 495MW energy storage portfolio that is located in the U.S.
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. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such matters as our projections of annual revenues and Adjusted EBITDA, expenses and debt service coverage with respect to our debt securities, future capital expenditures, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, development or operation of generation assets, legal, market, industry and geopolitical developments and incentives, demand for renewable energy, and the growth of our business and operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “projects”, “potential”, or “contemplate” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words or expressions. 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. Although we believe that our plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we may not achieve these plans or objectives. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties and other risks described under "Risk Factors" as described in Ormat’s most recent annual report, and in subsequent filings.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and, except as legally required, 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: Smadar Lavi VP Head of IR and ESG Planning & Reporting 775-356-9029 (ext. 65726) slavi@ormat.com | Investor Relations Agency Contact: Joseph Caminiti or Josh Carroll Alpha IR Group 312-445-2870 ORA@alpha-ir.com |
