TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enlight Renewable Energy (“Enlight”, NASDAQ: ENLT, TASE: ENLT.TA), a leading renewable energy platform, is pleased to announce the start of commercial operations at Genesis Wind, the largest renewable energy project in Israel. Genesis Wind was connected to Israel’s electricity grid in June 2023, and as of October 13 began selling electricity. Initially, 34 of the project’s 39 turbines have reached commercial operations, comprising a generation capacity of 180 MW. The remaining five turbines are expected to be operational after the completion of final tests, raising capacity to 207 MW.
Genesis Wind was built with a total investment of approximately US $340 million1 and is expected to generate estimated revenues of approximately US $49-51 million and estimated EBITDA of approximately US $39-41 million in the first full year of operation. Genesis Wind is expected to provide clean electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of approximately 70,000 households and avert an estimated 180,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
As part of the project, a new 27 kilometer underground high-voltage transmission cable was built connecting the Golan Heights to Israel’s national grid. This in turn will enable the development of additional renewable energy projects in the region. The high voltage line represents another implementation of Enlight's “Land and Expand” strategy, which seeks to maximize the number of projects connected to a given area’s key transmission infrastructure.
Gilad Yaavetz, CEO of Enlight: “Despite the tragic events in Israel during the past week, the company is continuing to operate normally. After years of hard work, the vision has now become a reality, as the largest renewable energy project in Israel commences commercial operation. We see Genesis Wind as a major step in the Golan Heights, amongst the additional projects that we plan to develop in the region.”
About Enlight Renewable Energy
Founded in 2008, Enlight develops, finances, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale renewable energy projects. Enlight operates across the three largest renewable segments today: solar, wind and energy storage. A global platform, Enlight operates in the United States, Israel and 9 European countries. Enlight has been traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 2010 (TASE: ENLT) and completed its US IPO (NASDAQ: ENLT) in 2023. Learn more at enlightenergy.co.il.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This report on Form 6-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements contained in this report on Form 6-K other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s expectations relating to the Genesis Wind project, operational timeline, additional development projects in the Golan Heights, as well as estimated revenues and EBITDA, are forward-looking statements. The words “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “target,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “possible,” “forecasts,” “aims” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our ability to site suitable land for, and otherwise source, renewable energy projects and to successfully develop and convert them into Operational Projects; availability of, and access to, interconnection facilities and transmission systems; our ability to obtain and maintain governmental and other regulatory approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits; construction delays, operational delays and supply chain disruptions leading to increased cost of materials required for the construction of our projects, as well as cost overruns and delays related to disputes with contractors; our suppliers’ ability and willingness to perform both existing and future obligations; competition from traditional and renewable energy companies in developing renewable energy projects; potential slowed demand for renewable energy projects and our ability to enter into new offtake contracts on acceptable terms and prices as current offtake contracts expire; offtakers’ ability to terminate contracts or seek other remedies resulting from failure of our projects to meet development, operational or performance benchmarks; various technical and operational challenges leading to unplanned outages, reduced output, interconnection or termination issues; the dependence of our production and revenue on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions, and our ability to accurately predict such conditions; our ability to enforce warranties provided by our counterparties in the event that our projects do not perform as expected; government curtailment, energy price caps and other government actions that restrict or reduce the profitability of renewable energy production; electricity price volatility, unusual weather conditions (including the effects of climate change, could adversely affect wind and solar conditions), catastrophic weather-related or other damage to facilities, unscheduled generation outages, maintenance or repairs, unanticipated changes to availability due to higher demand, shortages, transportation problems or other developments, environmental incidents, or electric transmission system constraints and the possibility that we may not have adequate insurance to cover losses as a result of such hazards; our dependence on certain operational projects for a substantial portion of our cash flows; our ability to continue to grow our portfolio of projects through successful acquisitions; changes and advances in technology that impair or eliminate the competitive advantage of our projects or upsets the expectations underlying investments in our technologies; our ability to effectively anticipate and manage cost inflation, interest rate risk, currency exchange fluctuations and other macroeconomic conditions that impact our business; our ability to retain and attract key personnel; our ability to manage legal and regulatory compliance and litigation risk across our global corporate structure; our ability to protect our business from, and manage the impact of, cyber-attacks, disruptions and security incidents, as well as acts of terrorism or war; changes to existing renewable energy industry policies and regulations that present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to renewable energy projects; the reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives for, or regulations mandating the use of, renewable energy; our ability to effectively manage our supply chain and comply with applicable regulations with respect to international trade relations, tariffs, sanctions, export controls and anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws; our ability to effectively comply with Environmental Health and Safety and other laws and regulations and receive and maintain all necessary licenses, permits and authorizations; our performance of various obligations under the terms of our indebtedness (and the indebtedness of our subsidiaries that we guarantee) and our ability to continue to secure project financing on attractive terms for our projects; limitations on our management rights and operational flexibility due to our use of tax equity arrangements; potential claims and disagreements with partners, investors and other counterparties that could reduce our right to cash flows generated by our projects; our ability to comply with tax laws of various jurisdictions in which we currently operate as well as the tax laws in jurisdictions in which we intend to operate in the future; the unknown effect of the dual listing of our ordinary shares on the price of our ordinary shares; various risks related to our incorporation and location in Israel; the costs and requirements of being a public company, including the diversion of management’s attention with respect to such requirements; certain provisions in our Articles of Association and certain applicable regulations that may delay or prevent a change of control; and other risk factors set forth in the section titled “Risk factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and our other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC.
These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this Form 6-K. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as may be required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contacts
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Investor Contact
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1 Based on the Company’s 2Q23 financial results release.
