US Geothermal Tax Credits in 2026: What Is Actually Still Alive After OBBBA For an industry that spent more than a decade building financial models around a stable federal incentive structure, 2026 has been a year of whiplash. The 30% federal geothermal tax credit that developers and homeowners built forecasts around is gone in one form and still alive in another, and even the IRS’s own public guidance has been confusing enough to trigger uncertainty across the market. That confusion is not a minor clerical issue. It is shaping investment decisions, contractor sales pitches, homeowner timelines, and project finance assumptions right now. If you work in geothermal, the key question is no longer whether federal incentives exist, but which incentive applies, to which project type, and under what ownership structure. The law that changed the timeline To understand where things stand in 2026, you have to start with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which created a long runway for clean e...
💥 Ormat Inks New Zealand Deal for World’s Largest Binary Geothermal Plant 💥 By: Robert Buluma In a groundbreaking development for geothermal energy, Ormat Technologies has signed a new contract with Contact Energy Ltd. to construct the Tehuka 3 geothermal power plant in New Zealand. This marks Ormat’s 16th geothermal power plant in the country and solidifies New Zealand's growing reputation as a global geothermal powerhouse. 🔋 59 MW of Clean Energy Incoming Once completed, Tehuka 3 will generate 59 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy—enough to power thousands of homes and industries with clean electricity. Notably, Tehuka 3 is set to become the largest single geothermal binary unit operational plant in the world, representing a new milestone in binary cycle technology. 🌋 Built on Trust, Powered by Tauhara This contract marks the third collaboration between Ormat and Contact Energy, underscoring a trusted partnership. The Tehuka 3 plant will be located near the exi...