FMG chairman Andrew Forrest was in Brisbane yesterday with CSIRO CEO Dr Larry Marshall to announce the landmark partnership, which aims to capitalise on the economic opportunities associated with hydrogen and support the development of a competitive hydrogen industry in Australia.
FMG will fund and support select CSIRO technologies in the hydrogen space under a five-year partnership.
The first of the agreements will focus on CSIRO's metal membrane technology, which will make the transportation of hydrogen economically viable, enabling the benefits of the low emission fuel to be realised.
The deal comes after Forrest last week hinted at FMG's annual general meeting about upcoming energy news.
"We are at the beginning of an energy revolution and Fortescue intends to be at the forefront of this once in a generation opportunity," he said.
"As a proud Australian company, we are excited to partner with CSIRO, our nation's preeminent science and research body, to unlock the potential of hydrogen, the low emission fuel of the future.
"By combining CSIRO's global leading research and development with Fortescue's capability to rapidly develop new technologies, we will firmly establish our position in the global hydrogen industry.
"Importantly, we see potential for a significant export market in hydrogen and look forward to collaborating with third parties to ensure Australia's leadership in the new energy economy."
CSIRO said FMG recognised that building a hydrogen industry required a collaborative approach.
"CSIRO has a strong history of collaboration with industry, not just helping existing industries reinvent themselves through global disruption, but actually inventing entirely new industries like hydrogen where Australia can take the lead," Marshall said.
"Today we're seeing a ‘market pull' from companies like Fortescue to reinvent themselves through deep science-driven innovation and follow the global market shift towards a low-emissions energy future, and in so doing create a whole new export market for our vast clean energy resources."
CSIRO's National Hydrogen Roadmap, released earlier this year, provided a coordinated blueprint for growing Australia's hydrogen industry and found that an economically-sustainable hydrogen industry could soon be a reality.
CSIRO will continue its own investment in hydrogen R&D, chiefly through its Hydrogen Energy Systems Future Science Platform (FSP), and will work with Fortescue to commercialise technologies that support new energy markets, including in the chemicals and transportation sectors.
"Working with CSIRO to capitalise on the benefits of a low emission fuel such as hydrogen demonstrates Fortescue's commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by ensuring security of supply of cost-effective energy for our operations," FMG CEO Elizabeth Gaines said.
"The agreement builds on Fortescue's previous energy initiatives, including the conversion of the Solomon power station from diesel to gas generation and the development of the Fortescue River gas pipeline."
