Fortescue’s latest electrolyzer manufacturing facility has over 2 GW capacity
April 18, 2024A world-leading hydrogen electrolyzer factory.
Fortescue, a globally expanded West Australia-based green tech, energy, and metals company, announced the opening of its most impressive electrolyzer manufacturing facility to date. The plant is located in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia and will reportedly have the capacity to generate over 2 gigawatts (GW) of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer stacks annually.
The electrolyzer manufacturing plant features an automated assembly line.
What’s even more impressive about this state-of-the-art electrolyzer manufacturing facility for H2 production is that it is one of the first in the world to have an automated assembly line.
The electrolyzers that are produced are designed in-house by both Australia and US Fortescue teams. According to Mark Hutchinson, Fortescue Energy CEO, this Gladstone facility establishes Fortescue as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
The facility, which is 15,000 square meters (sqm), was built and fully commissioned in just over two years. The factory will support Fortescue’s plans to boost green hydrogen production in the upcoming decade.
Fortescue is working toward establishing itself and Australia as a green hydrogen leader.
The electrolyzer manufacturing facility positions the company and Gladstone as a large producer of this green hydrogen tech.
Fortescue electrolyser manufacturing facility in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia – Image Source: Fortescue
“We’re strategically focused on building out our Energy business,” said Hutchinson, who added that Fortescue has many green hydrogen projects in the works and is currently designing and manufacturing the specialized equipment and tech that will “underpin” Fortescue’s renewable H2 projects “and that of others.”
“We will continue to research, manufacture, source and invest in new electrolyser technologies across the world to give us the best possible competitive position,” Hutchinson stated.
On to the next phase.
The completion of the electrolyzer manufacturing facility was only the first stage of the company’s bigger Green Energy Manufacturing Centre currently in development on the 100-hectare Gladston site. A hydrogen system testing facility and the company’s PEM 50 green hydrogen project are part of the next phases Fortescue has planned.
What’s the big deal about yet another electrolyzer production facility?
While it’s true that there isn’t anything revolutionary about the electrolysis process (splitting hydrogen and oxygen) to generate hydrogen, what is notable is that there is a growing demand for green H2.
The world is looking at different ways to use this clean energy and fuel to decarbonize a variety of sectors. A demand for green hydrogen means a demand for the electrolyzers that generate it. The new Fortescue facility can produce hydrogen on a large scale, which is one of the key components needed to get several green h2 projects currently in the pipeline, off the ground.
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