- Fortescue Metals’ (FMG) Chairman Andrew Forrest said the newly announced deal to supply green hydrogen to Germany is just the start as the rest of the world catches up to Europe
- European policymakers and industry have been embracing hydrogen to meet the EU goal for net zero emissions by 2050
- FMG’s subsidiary Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) signed a deal with German chemical maker Covestro to supply up to 100,000 tonnes a year of hydrogen from 2024
- Mr Forrest believes that by around 2025, hydrogen will start being widely used to replace oil, coal and gas
Fortescue Metals’ (FMG) Chairman Andrew Forrest has told a Berlin industry conference that the newly announced deal to supply green hydrogen to Germany is just the start as the rest of the world catch up with Europe.
To reach the EU goal for net zero emissions by 2050, European policymakers and industry have been embracing hydrogen to meet this goal.
However, critics say it serves to prolong the use of fossil fuels when the aim is to get rid of them entirely, and requires a large amount of energy to produce.
Green Hydrogen has the best environmental credentials of clean-burning fuel as it uses renewable energy to electrolyse water rather than relying on carbon-based fuel.
On Sunday, FMG’s green power subsidiary Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) signed a deal with German chemical maker Covestro to supply up to 100,000 tonnes a year of hydrogen from 2024.
“The big customers will be initially European, (South) Korean and Japanese and the big producers will be Latin America, Australia, Australia-Pacific and then Africa,” Fortescue’s Chairman and biggest shareholder Andrew Forrest told the annual Handelsblatt Energy Summit 2022.
“I really see huge potential. It will be those countries which have the best leadership because renewable energy is everywhere,” he added.
Mr Forrest believes that by around 2025, hydrogen will start being widely used to replace oil, coal and gas.