After entering a binding exclusivity agreement with the Industrial Park at TransAlta (IPAT), near Centralia, Washington, the proposed green hydrogen project would enable the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors in North America.
The IPAT project site is currently operational, however is scheduled to close in 2025. Subject to FFI’s feasibility studies, H2 View understands, it is the company’s intention to seek to employ the existing coal workforce for the project.
Dr. Andrew Forrest AO, Chairman and Founder at Fortescue Future Industries, said, “FFI’s goal is to turn North America into a leading global green energy heartland and create thousands of green jobs now and more in the future.
“Repurposing existing fossil fuel infrastructure to create green hydrogen to power the world is part of the solution to saving the planet. The signing of this agreement is another important step in turning the corner once and for all, to implement the technologies carbon emitters need to reach net-zero,”.
FFI has been working with the Lewis County Energy Innovation Coalition and Lewis Economic Alliance to undertake due diligence efforts on the project to date.
Richard DeBolt, Executive Director at the Lewis Economic Alliance, commented, “With the closing of the coal mine and the scheduled retirement of the Centralia coal-fired power plant, IPAT was formed to redevelop the site and attract investment that will support well-paid, long-term employment opportunities in the region.”
FFI also today announced that it would apply for a US Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Hub Program (HHP) grant in collaboration with Pacific Northwest stakeholders. The HHP was enacted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is being implemented by the DOE.
Paul Browning, CEO at Fortescue Future Industries North America, said, “The electric power grid of the Pacific Northwest is one of the lowest carbon power grids in the world and can be used to produce green hydrogen, and could extend the region’s low carbon leadership to hard to electrify sectors like long-haul trucking, ports, aviation, and heavy industry.
“Together with other Pacific Northwest stakeholders, we plan to utilise legacy fossil fuel infrastructure and workforce to produce green hydrogen and pursue a growing zero carbon economy in Lewis County and the Pacific Northwest region.”
North American Hydrogen Summit
H2 View is taking its events platform to America’s original clean hydrogen hub of California. Together with the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), we will stage our North American Hydrogen Summit in San Francisco on July 14-15.
As our summit theme Building Bridges: Hydrogen hubs and investment suggests, the event will explore the $8bn of funding announced to create at least four regional hydrogen hubs in the US. These hubs will turbo-charge the nation’s progress toward heavy trucking and industrial sectors that run without producing carbon pollution – and they may just provide the path forward to a hydrogen-fuelled future.
With California and Texas vying to be America’s hydrogen capital today, where are the hubs of tomorrow? Further still, what can other states, and countries, learn from California’s success story? And how can we build bridges to a successful flow of international investment?
If you are a member of the CaFCP, be sure to grab your ticket at a discounted rate with a code that can be provided to you by the events team.
Full information about this event including attendance and sponsorship packages can be found here.