AI Demand Revives Geothermal Interest: Ormat Secures 150 MW and Projects 2.8 GW

Ormat Technologies, one of the largest geothermal operators in the United States, signed an agreement on February 17, 2026 for up to 150 megawatts (MW) with NV Energy to supply Google's data centers in Nevada, Bloomberg reported. The deal illustrates renewed capital interest in geothermal energy, driven by electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and long-term contract prices that have doubled or tripled compared to 2021 levels, according to Canary Media.

Geothermal energy accounts for just 0.4% of U.S. electricity generation, with approximately 4 gigawatts (GW) installed across 99 plants, more than half of them in California, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). However, hyperscalers' appetite for carbon-free baseload power has transformed the sector's investment profile. The DOE estimates that geothermal could reach 90 GW by 2050 if costs decline and enhanced systems scale. Ormat, founded 61 years ago in Israel and headquartered in Reno, Nevada, reported revenues of close to 1,000 million dollars in 2025 and operates 1,695 MW across geothermal, solar, and storage assets in the United States, Kenya, Guatemala, and Indonesia.

The Google agreement operates under NV Energy's Clean Transition Tariff (CTT), a mechanism that allows large users to invest in clean electricity while covering all service costs and shielding other consumers from those costs. Subject to approval by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, expected in the second half of 2026, the contract has a portfolio structure: projects come online as they reach commercial operation, the first from 2028 and the last around 2030. In parallel, Ormat is advancing conventional projects such as Pearl (60 MW in Nevada, with accelerated environmental approval from the Bureau of Land Management in June 2026), developing a 100 MW binary unit for high-temperature conditions, and reactivating its enhanced geothermal pilot at Desert Peak alongside petroleum company SLB.

The sector, which in May 2026 saw the first initial public offering of a next-generation geothermal company (Fervo Energy, which raised 1,900 million dollars), now faces the execution test: converting its project pipeline and hyperscaler interest into dispatchable megawatts. Ormat has set a target of 2.6 to 2.8 GW of operational capacity by 2028, up from the current 1,695 MW.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.