Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), the ambitious renewable hydrogen start-up owned by billionaire iron-ore magnate Andrew Forrest, will announce its first investment decision on a major green hydrogen project within the next nine months, according to chief financial officer Guy Debelle.
“We’ve got a couple of projects which are getting very close to first investment decision, and so we’re looking to do that certainly over the next nine months or so to have those announcements out there,” said Debelle, the former deputy governor of Australia’s central bank, in an interview with Bloomberg.
FFI has one of the most ambitious green-hydrogen programmes in the world, with plans to produce 15 million tonnes of renewable H2 annually by 2030 — a feat that would require tens of gigawatts of electrolysers, wind turbines and solar panels.
Among recent announcements from the FFI is the €130m investment in the Belgian “green gas” developer Tree Energy Solutions, which plans to build a major renewable hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven on Germany’s northwest coast, and a plan with German utility E.ON to import five million tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year to Europe by 2030.
FFI is currently developing green hydrogen projects all over the world, including in Papua New Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Argentina and Brazil.
