Chadbourne & Parke LLP represented OrPower 4 Inc., a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of NYSE-listed Ormat Technologies, Inc., in connection with an up to $310 million limited-recourse project financing from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an agency of the United States Government, for the Olkaria III geothermal power complex located in Naivasha, Kenya. The OPIC financing, which was signed on August 23, 2012, is comprised of two tranches aggregating up to $265 million that will be used to pay costs of the existing 48 MW Plant 1 at the Olkaria III complex, and fund the construction well field drilling for the expansion of the Olkaria III geothermal power complex to up to 84 MW (Plant 2). The OPIC financing also includes up to $45 million of a stand-by tranche in the event that OrPower 4 elects to construct a further additional expansion of up to 16 MW (Plant 3).
The expansion of the Olkaria III geothermal power complex will enable OrPOwer to respond to the increased electricity demand in Kenya by supplying base-load sustainable geothermal energy.
Partner Noam Ayali and associates Nemika Jha, Rodion Yemelyanenko, and Alexandra Lancaster led the Chadbourne team on the transaction. Additional assistance on political risk insurance matters was provided by partner Ken Hansen.
