(Perth/Australia) – The Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest wants to build power plants to use renewable energy with an output of 235 gigawatts. The billionaire announced this this week, on November 11th, at the general meeting of his Fortescue Metals Group (FMG).

Over 600 million euros by 2023

The Fortescue founder and CEO said that one billion Australian dollars (2023 million euros) had already been earmarked for the projects by 618. The aim is “to use large-scale power plants and innovations around the world to cost-effectively use renewable energies”, primarily solar and wind power, in order to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia on an industrial scale. Fuel cells are to be used in transport and shipping, ammonia for the production of fertilizers, and hydrogen also in steel production.

Team travels to 47 countries

A team of executives has already traveled to 23 countries and contacted 25 governments to find potential partners. Another 24 countries will follow, according to the board report. FMG subsidiary Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has already signed preliminary contracts, for example in Papua New Guinea and Africa, according to the Reuters news agency. According to the plan, power plants and construction sites should first be secured, then FFI wants to optimize the infrastructure, especially for the transport of green hydrogen, and then develop the first 100 gigawatts of power plant output.

FMG: Profit of over four billion dollars

The focus of the fourth largest mining company in the world is the CO2-producing mining of iron ore. Fortescue's goal is to become climate-neutral by 2040. According to the balance sheet for the 2020 financial year, which ended on June 30, the mining company posted record sales of 12,8 billion US dollars (10,5 billion euros), an increase of 29 percent compared to the previous year. Profit rose by 49 percent to 4,74 billion US dollars (4,02 billion euros).

Solar power via submarine cable

Andrew Forrest is also quite busy in other ways: his company Squadron Energy and software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes' Grok Venture were main investors in the Australian company “Sun Cable” in November 2019. His plan: solar power plants in Australia with ten gigawatts of output and 30 gigawatt hours of storage capacity are to supply clean electricity to the always undersupplied city-state of Singapore via a 4.500-kilometer-long submarine cable - and possibly even beyond that to Indonesia, according to the vision.

Hydrogen power plant in NSW

But the story doesn't end there either: barely three weeks ago, in October, Squadron Energy completely took over the remaining shares in the company Australian Industrial Energy Inc. (AIE). AIE is currently developing a new port terminal in Port Kembla, a community of 5.000 people in New South Wales, an hour and a half south of Sydney. According to the official reading, natural gas is to be imported to the continent, and on a significant scale: imports are expected to cover around 2022 percent of NSW's gas needs in 75.

Two days after Forrest's hydrogen announcement, AIE announced on November 13th (local time) that it had signed a 25-year lease for the Port Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT). This will not only speed up the construction of Australia's first transshipment point for liquefied natural gas (LNG) - but will also simultaneously announce the construction of a hydrogen power plant with an output of 800 megawatts. It is said that the bi-fuel plant could initially be operated with LNG. But the draft already envisages fueling the power plant with hydrogen alone. That is when the Fortescue Metals Group starts hydrogen production on an industrial scale.

deep link
https://www.fmgl.com.au/in-the-news/media-releases/2020/11/11/fortescue’s-values-and-culture-highlighted-at-2020-annual-general-meeting
https://www.fmgl.com.au/docs/default-source/announcements/fortescue-agm-presentation-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=e8b4897a_6
https://www.fmgl.com.au/docs/default-source/announcements/fy20-annual-report-and-4e.pdf?sfvrsn=c3642b54_4
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN27R0BN

Photos
Fortescue wants to build renewable power plants with an output of 235 GW / © Fortescue Metals Group Ltd