Ormat: Product sales growth to slow

Ormat Technologies doesn't expect a 65 percent growth in its sales of equipment for new geothermal plants to continue.

The company, which is headquartered in Reno, said last week that it sold $51.1 million in geothermal products during the third quarter, up sharply from about $31 million in the same period a year ago.

But Dita Bronicki, president and chief executive officer, said this year's numbers were boosted by three big projects around the world including the 49.5-megawatt plant completed this autumn for Nevada Geothermal Power Inc. at Blue Mountain near Winnemucca.

And while there's a lot of talk about potential geothermal prospects in Nevada and elsewhere, Bronicki said most of them are in early stages and won't generate revenues for Ormat anytime soon.

The publicly held company also develops geothermal plants for its own portfolio, and its plants sold $68.7 million in electricity during the third quarter, about the same as a year earlier.

Combining the product-sales and power-generation businesses, Ormat earned $23.4 million on revenues of $119.8 million in the third quarter. A year earlier, it earned $15.8 million on revenues of $99.7 million.

The company will pay a quarterly dividend of 6 cents a share Dec. 1 to shareholders of record Nov. 18.