Fortescue pulls trigger on $1.14b in green energy projects
afr.comFortescue will proceed with its first three projects under the iron ore group’s ambitious plans to become a major force in hydrogen and renewable energy, giving a green light to $US750 million ($1.14 billion) in investments.
The board was dealt a first strike on executive pay at its annual meeting in Perth on Tuesday.
The company, chaired by billionaire businessman Andrew Forrest, unveiled the final investment decisions ahead of the meeting. The highest expenditure, $US550 million, is on the Phoenix Hydrogen Hub in the United States where Fortescue has plans for an 80 megawatt electrolyser and liquefaction plant with production capacity of up to 11,000 tonnes per annum of liquid green hydrogen.
Andrew Forrest, the chairman of Fortescue, has big plans to turn the company into an energy giant. Bloomberg
Fortescue also ticked off on a $US150 million, 50 megawatt green hydrogen project utilising Fortescue’s own electrolyser technology at Gladstone in Queensland, and developing a green iron trial plant at its Christmas Creek iron ore mine in Western Australia with a price tag of $US50 million.
The company said other projects in the pipeline were in Brazil, Kenya and Norway. But it has set aside $US750 million to spend on the three board-sanctioned projects, announced on Tuesday, over the next three years.
The future of the Gibson Island green hydrogen and ammonia project in Queensland that was heavily touted by Fortescue remains unclear. Fortescue said Gibson Island required more work “as Australia struggles to shed its petro-state status and still suffers structurally high green electricity costs”.
Fortescue’s energy chief, Mark Hutchinson, said the Phoenix hydrogen hub would establish a foothold in one of the most
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