Google and Ormat discussing cooperation

Google is in talks with Ormat about cooperation in the field of renewable energy, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told The Marker in an interview over the weekend.

Brin was in Israel for President Shimon Peres' "Facing Tomorrow" conference. He called Ormat an incredible company and said there are a lot of interesting Israeli companies that work in renewable and alternative energy, as well as electric cars.

According to Ha'aretz, senior Google executives have met with their counterparts from Ormat at two alternative energy conferences, and Larry Page, the other co-founder of Google, visited an Ormat geothermal plant in Desert Peak, Nevada.

Google operates in the alternative energy field through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, and the company hopes to "create utility-scale electricity from clean renewable energy sources that is cheaper than electricity produced from coal."

Just last week, Google.org also participated in the $115 million Series C round of financing for BrightSource Energy, the US parent company of Israeli solar energy technology company Luz II.

Ormat chairman Lucien Bronicki said in response that the meetings with Google are being held on a professional basis in order to advance geothermal technology. The firms are working to advance legislation for geothermal technology development budgets from the U.S. government.