Fortescue’s $6bn green dream off the starting grid

New Fortescue Metals chief Dino Otranto is resolute the miner will meet aggressive decarbonisation targets by 2030, as a fledgling green energy hub starts to take shape. 

Fortescue showcased a suite of new green energy developments and infrastructure at its Christmas Creek operations in the Pilbara on Tuesday, including its first battery electric-powered haul truck and a green hydrogen refuelling and storage station.

Although still in the commissioning stages, the hub represents a key part of reaching ambitious decarbonisation targets set by Andrew Forrest's iron ore and energy business to achieve 'real zero' by 2030 by replacing fossil fuel at the site with renewable sources of power. 

M Otranto, who replaced Fiona Hick following her abrupt exit in August, maintained he was confident the group could reach its target. 

“What’s [been] evidenced today is a more concrete footstep now in our path to real zero, so certainly the plan we announced just over a year ago now … is gaining a lot more momentum and a lot more confidence,” Mr Otrano told media on Tuesday. 

"We don’t see it as any other choice we have inside the organisation. We’re a very motivated team."

Fortescue has estimated it will cost about $US6.2 billion to decarbonise its operations. 

"We’ve spent, a small fraction of that in research and development costs already. You start seeing the material spend coming in the next few years," Mr Otranto said. 

"To give you an idea it’s about a third … so it’s a third on the generation side, a third on the trucks and a third on distribution networks and charging."

Headlining progress in Mr Forrest's green dream is a new battery electric-powered haul truck prototype, which was developed from battery to completion in approximately six months by Williams Advanced Engineering, a research and development outfit acquired in 2022, and Liebherr. 

Fortescue took delivery of 'Roadrunner' in June this year and a further 120 trucks, about a third of the group's entire fleet, are on order from Liebherr to replace its diesel vehicles. 

A new hydrogen refuelling station at Christmas Creek is intended to power new buses set to be rolled out at across its operations in the coming months.

Mr Otranto was unable to provide an estimate on the costs of producing a kilogram of hydrogen but maintained that it would be commercially sustainable. 

"[The] cost divers for hydrogen, aside from the capital that you saw which is relatively immaterial, is the cost of the renewable energy and the cost of the solar panels the wind, we’re seeing those come progressively down," he said.