Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s green hydrogen plans to grow Australian jobs

Aussie mining tycoon Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has reassured the mums and dads on Struggle Street the nation has a greener future with more jobs.

One of Australia’s wealthiest people, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest turned up to his green energy headquarters with ribs broken from mountain biking just the day before.

The mining magnate, whose fortune was founded by taking on and beating giant resources firms at seemingly impossible odds, is betting billions on his next quest – green hydrogen.

On a sunny Monday morning at Fortescue Future Industries’ base near Perth airport, Dr Forrest declares that explaining the world-changing potential of green hydrogen is more important than acceding to wife Nicola’s request to get his ribs seen to in a hospital.

He’s turned up, occasionally grimacing in pain, to proclaim his message that a green hydrogen-fuelled future is “the reality and the truth of employment”.

“Politicians call it jobs, jobs, jobs,” Dr Forrest said.

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest at the FMG Hazelmere facility near Perth in Western Australia. Picture: Tony McDonough

“What Australians want to know is that they’ve got solid, interesting careers in front of them – that they’re going to be able to send their own kids to school, pay off their own mortgages and have an interesting life.

“Well, if you start hearing that, and that is reality, and your political leader’s telling you something else – you’re going to vote with your feet, you’re gonna vote for someone else who’s going to tell you the truth,” he said.

“So we’re going straight through to the people to say: ‘Hey, this is not about losing jobs. There is a multiple more jobs – and growing – to what you’ve seen in the coal sector, the fossil fuel sector.’

“These jobs are rising in number and rising in quality – and in interesting careers. Whereas you know where yours are going, yours are on the decline.

“You just don’t know when it’s going to end but you know for sure, it will end. Whereas, this you know will go on forever,” he said.

“Our message is to get straight through to the troops on the ground, straight through to the mums and dads on Struggle Street, to say: ‘This is the truth. Renewable energy is such a wonderful future for you, your kids, everybody, and it’s going to continue to grow for good. Cling to anything else – watch those people’.”

Workers at the The FMG Hazelmere facility. Picture: Tony McDonough

Dr Forrest is matching his rhetoric by deploying the considerable financial resources of the mining firm he founded, Fortescue Metals Group, along with the influence this generates.

His substantial ambition is already delivering results. FFI on March 20 took over an empty 50,000 sqm warehouse near Perth Airport.

By June, 160 people were working on green hydrogen-powered heaving mining equipment, locomotives and marine projects.

Within 130 days, they developed a hydrogen-powered mine truck – a gigantic machine with a 240-tonne payload. A two megawatt diesel engine has been removed and replaced by a hydrogen fuel cell with a battery hybrid power unit.

Dr Forrest and his FFI team demonstrate the truck by contrasting it with a diesel-powered model first. “See the diesel fumes, spewing out of it,” Dr Forrest laments, as he gestures toward the machine rumbling past, its cacophonous engine almost drowning him out.

Then the hydrogen-fuelled truck starts a lap of the warehouse yard, powered by a 180kw fuel cell system with a 300kw/hr battery. It’s almost silent apart from whirring fans that sound like a giant outdoor airconditioning unit.

“Here is the sound of the future. No sound, no sound at all. That’s the green world I want to take you to. Imagine when everything which moves makes no sound and no smell at all. There’s no pollution from anything which moves and you’ve got all the power you could ever want as a planet,” Dr Forrest enthused.

Climbing aboard the truck via a ladder at its front, the exhaust water sprays over me – like the droplets from a misting fan. Riding in the passenger seat, the vehicle murmurs forward – this prototype is limited to 15km/h for safe operation at the Hazelmere test facility.

By late 2022, Dr Forrest wants to test on Fortescue mine sites the hydrogen fuel cell truck and a battery electric truck -driven by units with power equivalent to the two megawatt diesel engines that usually run the vehicles.

A hydrogen fuel cell battery haul truck demonstration. Picture: Tony McDonough

Dr Forrest talking with workers. Picture: Tony McDonough

Prototypes of a giant mining drill, excavator and locomotive that have been developed by FFI also would be tested in mines. A ship engine prototype also is being developed.

Fortescue on October 5 announced targets to cut emissions intensity levels from shipping the company’s ores by 50 per cent by 2030. This will involve accelerating plans to convert ships, including the company’s fleet of ore carriers, to be fuelled by green ammonia and support the adoption of ammonia for new vessel construction.

By mid-September, the diesel locomotive taken from the WA bush in March had been transformed to be 58 per cent powered by ammonia, a readily transportable by-product of hydrogen. The remainder of the train’s fuel is diesel but FFI engineers are confident of soon transforming the train to full ammonia power.

“Remember it took 100 years to turn what was a dirty old steam engine using carbon fuel, using timber then coal, then it got really fancy and used diesel,” Dr Forrest said.

“Now it’s using hydrogen in the form of ammonia to 58 per cent. It’s unbelievable that happened so fast. Less than a year, changing something which is dramatic as putting a steam engine into a train that took 100 years.”