Fortescue has been granted $45 million from the federal government coffers to enable renewable energy players to test and deploy emerging cost-cutting technologies at its projects.
Fortescue has been granted $45 million from the federal government coffers to enable renewable energy players to test and deploy emerging cost-cutting technologies at its projects.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will tip up to $45 million into Fortescue’s Pilbara solar innovation hub to help cut levelised costs and accelerate deployment of the project, costed at $500 million.
It comes against the backdrop of the federal and Queensland governments previously handing Fortescue taxpayer funds for its Gladstone hydrogen project, which was later shelved amid a major walk back of the company’s green hydrogen ambitions.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue is reportedly yet to repay funds for the iced project, but the founder has been quoted in The Australian saying he intends to repay every cent.
Fortescue’s Pilbara solar innovation hub is designed to be a 500-megawatt test bed for emerging technology within Fortescue’s planned 1.5GW solar photovoltaic project pipeline.
It would enable up to 10 individual projects to be trialled but with the collective aim of cutting costs and demonstrating technical and commercial feasibility in solar PV.
Two demonstration projects are already afoot, the first being Built Robotics trialling its pile-driving technology on the construction of Fortescue’s Cloudbreak solar farm.
Another is 5B, which will test its solar technology onsite at Cloudbreak from 2026, and if successful, to be scaled up for future use in Fortescue’s renewable energy pipeline.
Fortescue chief executive metals and operations Dino Otranto said working with ARENA was a strong endorsement of their pioneering of renewable energy solutions at scale.
“The solar innovation hub will allow us to trial and refine new technologies that improve safety, speed up delivery and drive down costs – helping us and Australia accelerate the transition to green energy,” he said in a statement.
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said the solar innovation hub was a “groundbreaking initiative that will help drive down the cost of solar energy”.
“Solar PV deployment is evolving as we find new ways to reduce costs, streamline logistics and adapt to challenging environmental conditions,” he said.
“These advances are helping to lower the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) and improve commercial viability for the heavy industrial and hard to abate sectors.”
Fortescue’s mission to reach real zero emissions by 2030 will require its entire Pilbara iron ore operation to run on green energy such as wind power, batteries, and hydrogen.
Its planning a range of renewables initiatives to facilitate the target, such as partnering with Chinese green technology developers and acquiring a Spanish renewables firm.
Fortescue recently submitted plans for the 2.1-gigawatt Bonney Downs wind farm to federal regulators, which would see some 200 turbines erected.
It’s buying an extra 400 zero-emission haul trucks for its Pilbara operations, in addition to its existing $4 billion equipment and development deal signed with Liebherr.
