Andrew Forrest to open Fortescue battery factory in Detroit

Fresh from lighting up New York with a drone show warning of ‘lethal humidity’, mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has unveiled the next move in the United States.

Billionaire clean energy crusader Andrew Forrest will open a massive battery manufacturing factory in the United States in Fortescue’s latest move to decarbonise its mining empire.

The company will also stop buying carbon offsets from this year, boasting that it is the only heavy emitter in the world to do so and freeing up hundreds of millions of dollars for its green initiatives.

Fortescue’s announcements came as world leaders gathered for the annual United Nations high-level week in New York, where the company lit up the skyline with a drone show spruiking messages including “break up with fossil fuels” and “lethal humidity”.

It’s time to break up with #FossilFuels. ✂️
 
Governments need to act faster. All fossil fuel subsidies should be removed. All barriers to green industry should be eliminated. Businesses need to be held accountable.
 
Race with us to #RealZero. 💪 pic.twitter.com/K7CSlDUuJk

— Fortescue (@FortescueNews) September 16, 2023

Fortescue-branded pedicabs have also been ferrying leaders around the summit, in what Fortescue Future Industries boss Mark Hutchinson said was part of a sweeping effort to convince other companies and countries to follow their lead.

Mr Forrest’s conglomerate has recently been rocked by a series of high-profile departures, with ratings agency Moody’s this week warning the turnover was negative for its credit rating.

Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest. Picture: Supplied

In an interview, new Fortescue Metals chief executive Dino Otranto played down the drama, saying the metals side of the business had been “relatively stable” and that “we all knew the team had to change” as it diversified into the clean energy and technology sectors.

“We made a really good crack of it, right, but we needed to bring new people in,” he said.

“A lot of the turnover that’s been reported has been driven from the fact that we’ve picked a vision, right, and we have to build the stock around that to execute that.”

Fortescue Future Industries boss Mark Hutchinson and Fortescue Metals CEO Dino Otranto. Picture: Supplied

Speaking in New York, Mr Hutchinson revealed the company had struck a deal to open a new manufacturing hub in Detroit that will take up about 37,000 square metres – the equivalent of about five soccer fields – and create hundreds of jobs.

It will produce battery systems for Fortescue’s electric mining trucks using technology from Williams Advanced Engineering, the company behind the British Formula 1 team which Mr Forrest acquired last year.

Mr Hutchinson said the project was part of Fortescue’s efforts to cash in on clean energy subsidies in US President Joe Biden’s historic $US1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act.

“You stack the numbers up and it’s so compelling,” he said.

He said the Albanese government’s clean energy measures would “never be able to compete with the IRA” but represented “a good start” to assist the domestic industry.

Mr Otranto said ditching carbon offsets would help Fortescue accelerate its green technology investments in its race to completely decarbonise its business by 2030.