A $US83 million electrolyzer facility has begun construction at Fortescue Metals Group’s planned Green Manufacturing Center (GEM) in Gladstone, Central Queensland.

The facility’s first electrolysers will have a capacity of two Gigawatts per year when they are completed early next year. More than 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen will be produced annually by this increase in production capacity.

FFI’s planned green hydrogen ammonia plant on Gisborne Island will use the hydrogen produced. In addition, FFI is aiming to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, which would remove 60 million diesel vehicles from the road. With this investment, FFI hopes to establish GEM as a green manufacturing hub.

Depending on the needs of FFI and its customers, additional stages of production will be delivered in specialized production lines. Wind turbines, high-voltage electric cabling, solar photovoltaic cells, modules, and arrays, and other renewable energy infrastructure could all be included. To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, hydrogen has emerged as a key component of the Australian government’s plan.

Government officials unveiled a plan in 2019 to turn the country into a major player in the hydrogen industry by 2030. Hybrid fuels, such as hydrogen, can be used to power vehicles and generate heat and electricity while also being portable and storeable.

The electrolysis process, which is used to extract hydrogen from water, necessitates the use of electrolysers like those that will be produced at the new facility. This procedure does not emit any carbon dioxide if the electrolyser is powered by renewable energy.

Queensland’s green hydrogen goals, according to Forrest, will be helped by the new facility. The electrolyzer factory is a 50/50 joint venture between FFI and Plug Power (subject to approvals).