Could Ethiopia’s Geothermal Exploration Relax Dam Plans?

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Given that 85 percent of the country’s residents lack access to electricity, it is no surprise that Ethiopia has pursued an aggressive hydropower plan. But the Grand Renaissance Dam and similar projects are expected to create significant environmental and social disruptions,  problems that the former President Meles Zenawi both denied and defied. But the Ethiopian […]

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Cornell and Israel’s Technion Unveil Net-Zero Energy Tech Hub Plans

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Earlier this year Cornell and Technion, Israel Institute for Technology won the privilege of developing a new tech campus and incubator on Roosevelt Island in New York City. Starchitects Skidmore, Owings, Merril (SOM) won the design competition and now plans are underway to turn the entire island into an enormous super-green net-zero energy campus complete with […]

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Masdar Looks to Make Good on Solar Power in Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia is looking to continue to ensure their promises of bolstering the Gulf Kingdom’s alternative energy is maintained. This month, Masdar CEO Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber said publicly that his United Arab Emirates-based company is discussing potential investments in Saudi, and will likely be focusing on solar energy. For Masdar, which has boosted its clean […]

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Ormat Rising Stocks A Boon For Israel Geothermal

For years, the goldmine for Israeli cleantech companies has been the American economy. And as Israel deploys innovative technologies across the Atlantic, it is increasingly breaking ground and gaining profits ahead of American companies. Just last week, shares of the Reno, Nevada-based unit of Israeli geothermal company, Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA), rose more than 2.7 […]

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Ormat Gets DOE “Solyndra” Loan Before Tea Party Shuts Down Program

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Three geothermal projects totaling 113 MW from Israel's geothermal giant Ormat got approvals just in time to get US government support under the Recovery Act Section 1705 loan guarantee this week. Nevada has some of the best geothermal potential among the US states, but has barely begun to develop it: the 113 MW will increase Nevada's geothermal power production by nearly 25%. Under the same program as Solyndra if Ormat Nevada Inc could line up an investor with up private financing by September 30th, under Section 1705, the US Department of Energy would provide a US government guarantee to back the loan in the unlikely event that Ormat was not able to repay its investors. However the loan guarantee has been anathema to the party that now controls the US congress (Utility-Scale Renewable Projects Become a Casualty of Republican Hostage-Taking) and will end this week.

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Palestine’s Geothermal Pioneer Shares Expertise Online

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The University of Madaba’s geothermal system, the largest in the Middle East Khaled Al-Sabawi, founder and president of Palestinian green energy pioneers MENA Geothermal, was one of the speakers at this spring’s much-publicised TEDx Ramallah conference. In an engaging and humorous speech, Al-Sabawi detailed the many benefits that geothermal energy has to offer his native […]

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Ormat Subsidiary Joins Geothermal Rush to Supply Chile’s New Renewable Energy Program

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Until this year, Chile’s renewable energy standard required only 3.5% of clean electricity by 2020. This year, they raised it to 20%. Now they are swamped with geothermal bids. Ormat Technologies Inc  ((NYSE: ORA) South American subsidiary Ormat Andina Energia Ltd was among the companies and subsidiaries of foreign-held companies that submitted bids to explore for […]

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Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Ormat and 7 More Headlines

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Ormat’s Waste Heat Recovery solution, hunger in Africa, fighting desertification and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment. As part of Israel’s plan to reduce energy use by 20%, new televisions and computer monitors that aren’t energy efficient may be outlawed. General Atlantic is in talks to acquire a stake in irrigation systems […]

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