FFI to investigate green hydrogen in North America

Fortescue Future Industries has announced a plan to investigate repurposing coal infrastructure for green hydrogen production in North America. The company said it will evaluate the feasibility of converting the former Centralia coalmine into a green hydrogen production facility after entering into a binding exclusivity agreement with the Industrial Park at TransAlta (IPAT) in Washington, United States.

The proposed FFI green hydrogen production plant would enable the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors of the North American economy and support the development of a Pacific Northwest green hydrogen hub, potentially creating hundreds of new local jobs.

The Centralia coal-fired power plant adjacent to the IPAT project site is scheduled to close in 2025. Subject to the outcome of the feasibility studies, FFI’s intention would be to seek to employ the existing coal workforce for the proposed project, facilitating a transition into the emerging green energy economy.

“FFI’s goal is to turn North America into a leading global green energy heartland and create thousands of green jobs now and more in the future,” said FFI Chairman and Founder Andrew Forrest. “Repurposing existing fossil fuel infrastructure to create green hydrogen to power the world is part of the solution to saving the planet.

“The signing of this agreement is another important step in turning the corner once and for all, to implement the technologies carbon emitters need to reach net zero.”

FFI has been working with the Lewis County Energy Innovation Coalition and Lewis Economic Alliance to undertake due diligence efforts on the project to date.

Richard DeBolt, Executive Director of the Lewis Economic Alliance, said: “With the closing of the coalmine and the scheduled retirement of the Centralia coal-fired power plant, IPAT was formed to redevelop the site and attract investment that will support well-paid, long-term employment opportunities in the region. FFI’s potential project represents the opportunity to do just that.”

FFI also announced that it would apply for a US Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Hub Program grant in collaboration with Pacific Northwest stakeholders. The Hydrogen Hub Program was enacted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is being implemented by the DOE.

“The electric power grid of the Pacific Northwest is one of the lowest carbon power grids in the world and can be used to produce green hydrogen, and could extend the region’s low carbon leadership to hard-to-electrify sectors like long-haul trucking, ports, aviation and heavy industry,” said Paul Browning, Chief Executive Officer of FFI North America. “Together with other Pacific Northwest stakeholders, we plan to utilise legacy fossil fuel infrastructure and workforce to produce green hydrogen and pursue a growing zero-carbon economy in Lewis County and the Pacific Northwest region.”

Josh Jacobs, VP of Clean Energy Strategy, Puget Sound Energy, said: “Our aspirational Beyond Net Zero Carbon initiative requires that we deploy innovative decarbonisation technologies like green hydrogen. We look forward to taking this important work forward.”

FFI is progressing discussions with the Lewis County Energy Innovation Coalition to investigate developing hydrogen applications in the Centralia-Chehalis twin cities. This includes working with bus transit operator Twin Transit to decarbonise commuter buses and other heavy transport operations.

Joe Clark, Executive Director of Twin Transit, said: “Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonise our transit operations safely and efficiently. Our central location on the I-5 corridor means the development of hydrogen infrastructure in Centralia can decarbonise the key North-South transport corridor in the Northwest and provide distribution of hydrogen across the region.”

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