The Olam
Israeli Real Economy

Ormat Technologies: The Israeli Geothermal Power Company

The Olam Editorial Team
Sep 2, 2026

Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA, TASE: ORA). Founded 1965 in Yavne by Lucien and Dita Bronicki. CEO Doron Blachar. Vertically integrated geothermal, REG, energy storage. FY 2025 revenue ~$990M. 2026 guidance $1.11–1.16B. 1.8 GW portfolio. Google and Switch PPAs. TA-35 component.

Israeli Energy & Infrastructure  |  Olam.business

Ormat Technologies is the Israeli-founded geothermal energy company — the only vertically integrated geothermal operator in the world, handling exploration, drilling, design, manufacturing, construction, ownership, and operation of geothermal and recovered energy power plants. Founded in 1965 in Yavne, Israel, by Lucien and Yehudit "Dita" Bronicki. Now headquartered in Reno, Nevada. Listed on the NYSE and TASE under the ticker ORA. A component of both the S&P 400 and the TA-35 Index. Full-year 2025 revenue of approximately $990 million.

At a Glance

EntityOrmat Technologies, Inc.
Founded1965 (as Ormat Turbines Ltd.)
FoundersLucien Bronicki and Yehudit "Dita" Bronicki
HeadquartersReno, Nevada (manufacturing in Yavne, Israel)
CEODoron Blachar (since July 2020; previously CFO and President)
ExchangesNYSE: ORA · TASE: ORA · S&P 400 · TA-35
Employees~1,650
Market capitalization~$6.3B
FY 2025 revenue~$990M (up 12.5% YoY)
FY 2025 adjusted EBITDA$582M
Q1 2026 revenue$403.9M (up 75.8% YoY; record quarter)
2026 revenue guidance$1.11–1.16B (~14.6% growth at midpoint)
Portfolio capacity1.8 GW (target: 2.6–2.8 GW by end of 2028)
Geothermal plants built190+ worldwide

The Bronicki Foundation Story

Ormat traces to a single engineer's insight in 1950s Israel. Lucien Bronicki, working in a government physics laboratory, developed a turbine capable of producing electricity from low-temperature heat sources using the Organic Rankine Cycle — a technology he co-developed with Harry Zvi Tabor. In 1965, Bronicki and his wife Dita founded Ormat Turbines Ltd. in Yavne.

The early decades were experimental. The company built one of the world's first solar-driven power stations, which proved uneconomic and was abandoned in 1988. During the 1980s, Ormat pivoted to recovered energy generation — converting waste heat from industrial processes into electricity — and then to geothermal, supplying systems to the Kawerau Power Station in New Zealand in 1986. That pivot defined the company. Lucien served as chairman and CTO and Dita as CEO until 2014.

Ormat listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 1991 and on the NYSE in 2004. The transition from an Israeli engineering boutique into a global infrastructure-scale independent power producer took four decades.

What Ormat Does

Ormat operates through three business segments. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal, solar PV, and recovered energy power plants, selling electricity under long-term power purchase agreements. FY 2025 electricity revenue was $693.9 million. The Product segment designs, manufactures, and sells ORC turbines and equipment for geothermal and recovered energy generation to customers globally — Turkey, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, and other geothermal-active regions. FY 2025 product revenue was $216.7 million, up 55% year over year. The Energy Storage segment owns and operates grid-connected battery energy storage (BESS) facilities providing capacity, energy, and ancillary services to the electric grid. FY 2025 storage revenue was $79.0 million — more than doubling year over year.

Doron Blachar and the Current Leadership

Doron Blachar became CEO in July 2020, succeeding the founder generation. Blachar joined Ormat in 2013, serving first as CFO and then as President before taking the top role. Under Blachar's leadership, Ormat has expanded from pure-play geothermal into energy storage, signed major PPAs with Google and Switch, and pushed the portfolio toward a 2.6–2.8 GW capacity target by end of 2028.

Assi Ginzburg serves as CFO.

The AI and Data Center Tailwind

Geothermal energy has moved from a niche renewable category into the center of the AI infrastructure conversation. AI training and inference require 24/7 baseload power that solar and wind cannot deliver without storage. Geothermal provides zero-emission baseload electricity with capacity factors above 90% — the reliability profile data center operators need.

Ormat has moved aggressively to capture this demand. The company signed a 15-year portfolio PPA for up to 150 MW to supply Google's data center electricity needs through NV Energy, and a 20-year agreement with Switch for approximately 13 MW from the Salt Wells power plant. PPA pricing has reached what Blachar calls "attractive levels," with blend-and-extend agreements adding $7–10 million annually to revenue.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Ormat is developing next-generation Organic Rankine Cycle equipment specifically designed for Enhanced Geothermal Systems — the technology that creates artificial geothermal reservoirs by injecting fluid into hot dry rock formations. EGS has the potential to unlock geothermal power in regions without natural hydrothermal resources, dramatically expanding the addressable market. Ormat has a joint venture with SLB (formerly Schlumberger) in this space and is designing standardized, simplified power plant configurations that would reduce construction costs significantly.

Financial Trajectory

FY 2025 was a record year: revenue of approximately $990 million (up 12.5%), adjusted EBITDA of $582 million (up 5.7%). Q1 2026 set a new quarterly record at $403.9 million — up 75.8% year over year — with operating income growing 57.6% and adjusted EBITDA expanding 29.7%. Adjusted diluted EPS increased 91.2%.

Management guidance for 2026 calls for $1.11–1.16 billion in revenue and continued margin expansion. The company is targeting 2.6–2.8 GW of generating capacity by end of 2028, up from the current 1.8 GW portfolio.

Where Ormat Sits

Ormat is the largest publicly traded pure-play geothermal company globally. Within the Israeli economy, it holds a distinctive position — a 61-year-old industrial company with manufacturing in Yavne, dual-listed on both the NYSE and TASE, operating at a scale ($6.3 billion market cap) and in a category (baseload renewable power) that no other Israeli company occupies. The TA-35 index inclusion makes Ormat one of the anchor Israeli industrial positions alongside companies like ICL Group, Elbit Systems, and Israel Chemicals.

In the global geothermal sector, Ormat competes with Enel Green Power (Italy), Mercury NZ (New Zealand), and Kenya Electricity Generating Company. In energy storage, it competes with AES, NextEra, and independent BESS developers. No other company holds Ormat's combination of geothermal ownership, equipment manufacturing, and grid-scale storage.

Why Ormat Matters

Three reasons. First, the AI-driven baseload demand wave — data centers need 24/7 clean power, and geothermal is the only zero-emission baseload source that doesn't require batteries or backup. Ormat is the scaled operator capturing that demand through PPAs with Google and Switch. Second, the EGS frontier — if enhanced geothermal systems prove commercially viable at scale, the geothermal addressable market expands by orders of magnitude, and Ormat holds the equipment and operating expertise to capture that expansion. Third, the 60-year Israeli industrial story — Ormat is the rarest kind of Israeli company: not a venture-backed startup but a multi-generational industrial enterprise that grew from a single turbine patent into a global infrastructure position.

FAQ

What does Ormat Technologies do?
Ormat is a vertically integrated geothermal and renewable energy company that explores, designs, builds, owns, and operates geothermal power plants. It also manufactures ORC turbine equipment and operates grid-scale battery energy storage facilities.

Who founded Ormat Technologies?
Lucien Bronicki and Yehudit "Dita" Bronicki founded Ormat in 1965 in Yavne, Israel. Lucien developed the Organic Rankine Cycle turbine technology that became the company's foundation.

Where is Ormat Technologies headquartered?
Reno, Nevada. The company's main manufacturing facilities are in Yavne, Israel.

What was Ormat's 2025 revenue?
Approximately $990 million, up 12.5% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $582 million.

What is Ormat's 2026 revenue guidance?
$1.11–1.16 billion, representing approximately 14.6% growth at the midpoint.

Does Ormat supply power to data centers?
Yes. Ormat has signed PPAs with Google (up to 150 MW through NV Energy) and Switch (approximately 13 MW) to supply geothermal baseload power for data center operations.

What is Enhanced Geothermal Systems?
EGS creates artificial geothermal reservoirs by injecting fluid into hot dry rock formations, enabling geothermal power generation in regions without natural hydrothermal resources. Ormat is developing specialized equipment for EGS through a joint venture with SLB.

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The Olam Editorial Team