Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Fortescue’s changing hydrogen targets no issue for Australia’s goals

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Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Fortescue’s changing hydrogen targets no issue for Australia’s goals

The Federal Energy Minister says the ****** of Australia’s green hydrogen sector has been greatly exaggerated since the country’s biggest industry advocate Fortescue shifted expectations on 2030 targets.

Speaking after meeting with State energy ministers — and for the first time since Fortescue axed 700 workers amid concessions about achieving green goals — Mr Bowen on Friday was resolute Australia would still be a superpower in green hydrogen.

“We’ve had one project by one company de-prioritised,” he said.

“That does not mean the hundreds of other projects under development have been de-prioritised. It does not mean that the pipeline of investment is not on track.

“Reports of the ****** of the green hydrogen industry are greatly exaggerated in the last 48 hours.”

Mr Forrest late on Thursday affirmed his company was not backing off its hydrogen plans, but said electricity costs needed to come down to produce green hydrogen.

“We’re not backing off green hydrogen, we’re doubling up on green energy . . . we are committed,” he told the ABC.

Earlier this week Mr Forrest told The West *********** the job cuts were “heart-breaking” but were needed to keep the business “lean impactful and agile”, and not an indicator the green energy division was faltering.

About 700 white-collar redundancies are set to be made across the business, which is headquartered in Perth.

Prior to the update Fortescue had been chasing a target of producing 15Mt of green hydrogen a year by 2030.

Mr Bowen also refuted comments from Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien, who said on Thursday “Twiggy’s abandonment of green hydrogen” had “blown a gaping *****” in Labor’s energy plans.

“I’ve been disappointed to see the Federal Opposition luxuriating and celebrating challenges in green hydrogen while they embark on a nuclear frolic and fantasy,” Mr Bowen said.

The minister stood by a decision to not include Fortescue and Woodside Energy in handing out $2 billion as part of its Hydrogen Headstart Program.

There were two WA projects, owned by international companies, that made the cut.

Oil and gas giant BP was shortlisted for its proposed H2Kwinana ‘green energy hub’, an operation slated to produce either 44 tonnes, 143t or 429t of hydrogen a day from the new facility set to be built in the busy industrial area.

Also left in in the running for funding is the Murchison Hydrogen project, backed by Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The Federal Government has pledged a $2 hydrogen production tax credit, that will be paid to any successful developers per kilo from 2027.

Mr Forrest told the ABC it was a “clever subsidy” needed to keep Australia’s advantage in developing green hydrogen.

In its 2022 State of Hydrogen report the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water said it was estimated that 12 Mt of low-emissions hydrogen could be exported per year.

According to that same report Fortescue was meant to be delivering up to 5mt per year to ********* customers under a deal with utilities company E.ON, also by 2030.

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