{"id":172069,"date":"2023-11-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=927642"},"modified":"2023-11-21T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:00:00","slug":"going-green-the-fortescue-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/11\/21\/going-green-the-fortescue-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Going green the Fortescue way"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Fortescue will also put $US150 million into a 50-megawatt green hydrogen project using the company\u2019s electrolyser technology at Gladstone in Queensland, as well as investing $US60 million into a green iron trial plant at its Christmas Creek iron ore mine in Western Australia.
\nThis doesn\u2019t add up to the five projects promised to reach final investment decisions before Christmas. The Fortescue board has agreed to fast-track three other projects in Brazil, Norway and Kenya, but gave no details of the timetable or funding commitment.
\nFortescue\u2019s long-touted green hydrogen and ammonia project at Gibson Island in Queensland also \u201crequires further work\u201d given the high structure cost of green electricity in Australia.
\nAccording to Forrest, the world is not short of capital or technology to back the green revolution \u2013 only the leadership that is required.
\nThis is all a long way short of Forrest\u2019s promise to turn Fortescue into a green energy giant \u2013 particularly focused on producing millions of tonnes of green hydrogen \u2013 by the end of this decade.
\nBut it doesn\u2019t deter him from stressing the huge commercial benefits that will accrue to the company thanks to its determination and ability to lead the energy transition.
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\nThis is partly to counter apprehension from some investors that Forrest\u2019s passion for renewables will come at the cost of its highly successful iron ore business \u2013 particularly with iron ore prices now fetching more than $US130 a tonne.
\nForrest has already said Fortescue will accept a lower rate of return on first generation green energy projects than it does for its iron ore projects.
\nBut the company also announced this month it will expand into asset management with the establishment of Fortescue Capital, based in New York, aimed at tapping money from third-party investors to help fund these green projects given the scope of Fortescue\u2019s aspirations.
\nAccording to Forrest, the world is not short of capital or technology to back the green revolution \u2013 only the leadership that is required.
\nHe reminded shareholders of the intense scepticism that dogged Fortescue for years before it became today\u2019s iron ore powerhouse with a market capitalisation of close to $80 billion, making Forrest Australia\u2019s richest man.
\nBy coincidence, Jim Chanos, one of the most famous global short-sellers of Fortescue at the time, has just closed down his much diminished hedge funds.
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\n\u201cThis is a company that\u2019s just getting started,\u201d Forrest happily told the AGM, claiming Fortescue\u2019s record for the highest total shareholder return of any ASX-listed company since its inception 20 years ago.
\nThat didn\u2019t stop an embarrassing first strike against the company\u2019s remuneration report, with 52 per cent of shares against the large payouts to two key executives, Elizabeth Gaines and Ian Wells, who left their roles as CEO and CFO respectively.
\nForrest argued Fortescue had received \u201cexcellent value for money\u201d, but clearly preferred to concentrate on the commitment to deliver outcomes for the world as well as returns to shareholders.
\nHe savaged oil and gas companies, including Woodside Energy, for making global warming \u201cso much worse\u201d as he launched into another tirade about the existential crisis confronting the world.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s this collective act of the suspension of critical thinking to think that we can embrace the fossil fuel industry while stopping climate change. The reverse is true,\u201d he declared.
\n\u201cWe are changing to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.\u201d
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\nAs well as backing Fortescue Energy\u2019s green projects, that includes the pledge to remove emissions from the company\u2019s iron ore operations by 2030.
\nFormer CEO of Fortescue Metals, Fiona Hick, abruptly left the company last September after only seven months in the job following disagreements about the scale and pace of the transition. Successor Dino Otranto harbours no such doubts.
\nAs well as new solar and wind farms starting to power mine operations, Otranto cited the speedy building of the first giant haul truck powered by battery rather than diesel and the first battery electric locomotive becoming operational next year.
\n\u201cOur plan to achieve real zero by 2030 is well under way,\u201d he said. \u201cFor all the sceptics out there, this is real. It\u2019s happening.\u201d
\nOtranto also emphasised the significance of the green iron trial commercial plant, saying it was clear on his recent trip to China there had been a decree at the most senior level to pivot to a decarbonised future.
\n\u201cThis is truly world-leading,\u201d he said of the trial. \u201cI believe in 10 years we are going to look back on this moment as the moment we started to turn our iron ore green.\u201d
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\nThe perpetually enthusiastic Fortescue founder and chairman plans to be there for all of it, investors following.<\/p>\n

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fortescue will also put $US150 million into a 50-megawatt green hydrogen project using the company\u2019s electrolyser technology at Gladstone in Queensland, as well as investing $US60 million into a green iron trial plant at its Christmas Creek iron ore m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[413,144,477,785,194,1542],"tags":[2086,2636,1884,10388,10472,10315,10425,10340,7571],"class_list":["post-172069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advertising","category-china","category-investment","category-new-york","category-news-chinese-law","category-technology","tag-australia","tag-brazil","tag-climate-change","tag-esg","tag-kenya","tag-media-intelligence","tag-minerals","tag-norway","tag-oil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172070,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172069\/revisions\/172070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}