Fortescue plans Argentina green hydrogen project

Australia's Fortescue Future Industries will invest $8.4bn over the next decade to produce green hydrogen from wind energy in Argentina's Patagonian Rio Negro province, the Argentinian government said.

Fortescue formalized the investment plans for the Pampas plant in a meeting with Argentinian president Alberto Fernandez this week on the sidelines of the UN Cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

The deal would be the largest international investment in Argentina in the last 20 years, production minister Matias Kulfas said.

The plant will produce green hydrogen — created using renewable power — for export with the goal of reaching a capacity of 2.2mn t/yr by 2030. Fortescue is analyzing the available winds in the region and will later launch a $1.2bn pilot phase through 2024 to produce some 35,000t of green hydrogen. An additional $7.2bn investment will follow through 2028.

The pilot phase will have 600MW of electrolyser capacity before growing to 2GW and then to 15GW,Fortescue Latin American operations head Agustin Pichot said.

If all goes according to plan, the company should start exporting green hydrogen by the end of 2024, Pichot said.

Argentina has so far lagged behind neighboring countries Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in attracting green hydrogen investments.

By Daniel Politi