Ormat Technologies launched the 80MW Shirk energy storage facility in California, enhancing grid reliability and supporting renewable energy demands.
Quiver AI Summary
Ormat Technologies Inc. has announced the launch of commercial operations at its Shirk energy storage facility in Visalia, California, which features an 80MW/320MWh Battery Energy Storage System. This facility will help ensure grid reliability and meet California's energy demands under a 15-year agreement with the City of Riverside. The project qualifies for a 40% Investment Tax Credit, which Ormat plans to leverage through a partnership with Morgan Stanley Renewables. CEO Doron Blachar highlighted that the Shirk facility represents a significant advancement in Ormat's energy storage segment and its commitment to support California's clean energy goals. With extensive experience in geothermal energy and a growing portfolio in energy storage services, Ormat continues to establish its position in the U.S. energy market.
Potential Positives
- Commencement of commercial operations at the Shirk energy storage facility enhances Ormat's energy storage portfolio and supports California's growing demand for flexible energy resources.
- The Shirk facility operates under a long-term Resource Adequacy Purchase and Sale Agreement (RA Agreement) with the City of Riverside, ensuring stable, contracted revenues.
- The project qualifies for a 40% Investment Tax Credit (ITC), contributing to potential tax benefits that can strengthen Ormat's profitability and financial visibility.
- This development marks a significant milestone in Ormat's strategy to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market and expand its diversified portfolio of contracted storage assets.
Potential Negatives
- The press release relies heavily on forward-looking statements which indicate uncertainty about the company's future performance and execution of its plans, potentially raising concerns among investors regarding the reliability of these projections.
- The mention of risks and uncertainties in the forward-looking statements suggests that there may be factors the company is apprehensive about which could impact its future operations and profitability.
- While the Shirk facility commences operations, there may be concerns regarding the overall viability and integration of the energy storage segment, particularly given the competitive nature of the energy storage market and the pressing demand for reliable energy solutions.
FAQ
What is the Shirk energy storage facility's capacity?
The Shirk energy storage facility has a capacity of 80MW/320MWh.
Where is the Shirk energy storage facility located?
The facility is located in Visalia, California.
How does the Shirk project contribute to grid reliability?
Shirk supports grid reliability by securing capacity under a 15-year agreement with the City of Riverside.
What tax benefits does the Shirk project qualify for?
The project qualifies for a 40% Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
What is Ormat Technologies' focus in the energy market?
Ormat focuses on geothermal and renewable energy, with plans to expand its energy storage portfolio.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
$ORA Insider Trading Activity
$ORA insiders have traded $ORA stock on the open market 15 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 15 have been sales.
Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $ORA stock by insiders over the last 6 months:
- ASSI GINZBURG (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 29,343 shares for an estimated $3,126,295.
- ISAAC ANGEL sold 18,018 shares for an estimated $2,025,668
- DORON BLACHAR (Chief Executive Officer) sold 14,994 shares for an estimated $1,420,081
- OFER BENYOSEF (EVP, Energy Storage & BD) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 10,401 shares for an estimated $1,195,246.
- JESSICA WOELFEL (GC, CCO, and CS) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 9,928 shares for an estimated $995,147.
- RAVIT BARNIV sold 1,753 shares for an estimated $197,282
- DAFNA SHARIR sold 981 shares for an estimated $94,862
- STANLEY STERN has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 629 shares for an estimated $60,108.
To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.
$ORA Revenue
$ORA had revenues of $276M in Q4 2025. This is an increase of 19.63% from the same period in the prior year.
You can track ORA financials on Quiver Quantitative's ORA stock page.
$ORA Hedge Fund Activity
We have seen 197 institutional investors add shares of $ORA stock to their portfolio, and 197 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.
Here are some of the largest recent moves:
- ORIX CORP removed 2,596,310 shares (-87.2%) from their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $249,894,837
- IMPAX ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP PLC removed 1,086,369 shares (-61.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $120,011,183
- AMUNDI removed 590,007 shares (-55.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $65,178,073
- MIGDAL INSURANCE & FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD. added 540,000 shares (+155.8%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $59,653,800
- UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 453,415 shares (-75.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $50,088,755
- ZURCHER KANTONALBANK (ZURICH CANTONALBANK) added 358,655 shares (+825.8%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $39,620,617
- JPMORGAN CHASE & CO removed 350,211 shares (-68.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $38,687,809
To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.
$ORA Analyst Ratings
Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $ORA in the last several months. We have seen 3 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.
Here are some recent analyst ratings:
- Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 01/15/2026
- TD Cowen issued a "Buy" rating on 01/09/2026
- UBS issued a "Buy" rating on 11/07/2025
To track analyst ratings and price targets for $ORA, check out Quiver Quantitative's $ORA forecast page.
$ORA Price Targets
Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $ORA recently. We have seen 11 analysts offer price targets for $ORA in the last 6 months, with a median target of $130.0.
Here are some recent targets:
- Jon Windham from UBS set a target price of $143.0 on 03/03/2026
- Christopher Dendrinos from RBC Capital set a target price of $130.0 on 03/03/2026
- David Anderson from Barclays set a target price of $123.0 on 03/02/2026
- Ben Kallo from Baird set a target price of $130.0 on 02/27/2026
- Ryan Levine from Citigroup set a target price of $128.0 on 02/18/2026
- Julien Dumoulin-Smith from Jefferies set a target price of $130.0 on 02/13/2026
- Noah Kaye from Oppenheimer set a target price of $136.0 on 01/27/2026
Full Release
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 40% Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which the Company plans to monetize the tax benefits as part of the hybrid tax equity partnership with Morgan Stanley Renewables, Inc. that Ormat announced in May 2025, which supports the funding and optimization of the Company’s growing energy storage portfolio.
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.
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Ormat Technologies Contact:
Smadar Lavi VP Head of IR and ESG Planning & Reporting 775-356-9029 (ext. 65726) [email protected] |
Investor Relations Agency Contact:
Joseph Caminiti or Josh Carroll Alpha IR Group 312-445-2870 [email protected] |