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Amount of deferred tax liability attributable to taxable temporary differences.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences from investments (excludes investments in subsidiaries and equity method investments).

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Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2004	Dec. 31, 2011
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Valuation Allowance		$ 111,300,000
Deferred Tax Assets, Investments		672,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsInvestments	672,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsInvestments
Deferred Tax Assets, Tax Credit Carryforwards, General Business		71,402,000	71,313,000
Deferred Tax Assets, Valuation Allowance	113,596,000	111,280,000	114,806,000	113,596,000		61,500,000
Undistributed Earnings of Foreign Subsidiaries		75,900,000
Distributions Received from Subsidiary		250,000,000ora_DistributionsReceivedFromSubsidiary
Unrecognized Tax Benefits that Would Impact Effective Tax Rate		7,500,000	5,000,000
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Decrease Resulting from Prior Period Tax Positions		649,000	3,677,000
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Credit, Investment, Percent			30.00%
Investment Tax Credit Per Unit (in Dollars per Kilowatt-hour)			2.3ora_InvestmentTaxCreditPerUnit
Production Tax Credit Claim Period		10 years
Tax Credit Carry Back		1 year
Unused Tax Credit Carry Forward		20 years
Public Utilities Property Plant and Equipment Useful Life		5 years
Effective Income Tax Rate Year Two				15.00%ora_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateYearTwo
Foreign Earnings Repatriated	250,000,000us-gaap_ForeignEarningsRepatriated
Wholly-owned Foreign Subsidiaries	2ora_WhollyOwnedForeignSubsidiaries
Dividends from Foreign Subsidiaries	177,200,000ora_DividendsFromForeignSubsidiaries
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Credit, Foreign, Amount	13,000,000
Deferred Tax Liabilities, Gross	59,800,000us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxLiabilities			59,800,000us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxLiabilities
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Repatriation of Foreign Earnings, Amount			59,800,000
Domestic Tax Authority [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards		251,400,000
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards		216,500,000
Open Tax Year		2014
Placed in Service after January 1, 2014 [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Credit, Investment, Percent			10.00%
Investment One [Member] \| Maximum [Member] \| Israel Tax Authority [Member] \| Ormat Systems Ltd Member
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Effective Income Tax Rate					25.00%
Investment One [Member] \| Israel Tax Authority [Member] \| Ormat Systems Ltd Member
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Period For Tax Exemption					2 years
Income Tax Incentive Period					5 years
Investment Tax Credit Carryforward [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Year		2024
Investment Tax Credit Carryforward [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Year		2022
Investment Tax Credit Carryforward [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Period		20 years
General Business Tax Credit Carryforward [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Year		2034
General Business Tax Credit Carryforward [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Year		2026
General Business Tax Credit Carryforward [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Tax Credit Carryforward Expiration Period		20 years
Deferred Tax Assets, Tax Credit Carryforwards, General Business		71,400,000
Maximum [Member] \| GUATEMALA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2014
Maximum [Member] \| ISRAEL
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2014
Maximum [Member] \| KENYA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2014
Maximum [Member] \| NEW ZEALAND
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2014
Minimum [Member] \| GUATEMALA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2008
Minimum [Member] \| ISRAEL
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2009
Minimum [Member] \| KENYA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2000
Minimum [Member] \| NEW ZEALAND
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2009
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [Member]
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year		2014
Israel Tax Authority [Member] \| Ormat Systems Ltd Member
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Effective Income Tax Rate Year One						15.00%
Effective Income Tax Rate Year Three			12.50%
Effective Income Tax Rate Year Four and Thereafter		16.00%
GUATEMALA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
National Corporate Tax Rate		28.00%
Effective Income Tax Rate		0.00%
Tax Exemption Period		10 years
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Tax Exempt Income, Amount		$ 1,900,000	$ 4,400,000	$ 3,600,000
Income Tax Benefit From Examination Per Share (in Dollars per share)		$ 0.04	$ 0.10	$ 0.08
ISRAEL
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
National Corporate Tax Rate		26.50%	25.00%	25.00%		24.00%
KENYA
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
National Corporate Tax Rate		37.50%
NEW ZEALAND
Note 18 - Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
National Corporate Tax Rate			28.00%	28.00%		28.00%