The Argentine government stated that the iron ore company Fortescue Metals Group plans to invest US$8.4 billion to produce green hydrogen on an industrial scale in the country. It was announced during the COP26 World Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, after company officials had a meeting with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.

Argentina builds green hydrogen energy project

Fernández said: “Argentina has a great opportunity. It needs companies like this to invest and create jobs.” Green hydrogen is one of the fuels of the future. Argentina is one of the countries at the forefront of ecological transformation, which makes us proud. "Fortescue Metals is said to have started exploration work in the province of Río Negro. Its investment is expected to create more than 15,000 direct jobs and 40,000-50,000 indirect jobs. It is said that the company’s exploration is based on an assessment of the quantity and quality of wind in the area. Wind will become the main energy source for production. The green hydrogen project will be developed in three phases. According to the government, US$1.2 billion will be invested in a pilot project to confirm the planned production capacity. It will produce nearly 35,000 tons of green hydrogen, which is equivalent to 250,000 tons of green hydrogen. The needs of households.

The pilot phase will begin in 2022 and end in 2024. Next will be the first production stage, with an estimated investment of US$7.2 billion. FortescueMetals' goal is to produce nearly 215,000 tons of green hydrogen in the first production stage, which is equivalent to the energy capacity to meet the electricity needs of 1.6 million households. This phase will last until 2028. The Argentine government stated that by the end of this decade, Río Negro will be transformed into a global green hydrogen export center. The province’s annual production capacity will reach 2.2 million tons, and its energy production is equivalent to nearly 10% of Germany’s annual electricity consumption. Keywords: engineering news, engineering construction

FortescueMetals President Andrew Forrest told the President of Argentina: "We are ready to invest in Argentina. We are a cutting-edge energy company that hires and trains talent. This is what we want to do in your country. We are here. This is to make Argentina a world leader in renewable energy and an exporter.” The government said that the green hydrogen project will be developed near Sierra Grande, a city with a history of iron ore production. In another development, FortescueFuture Industries (FFI), a subsidiary of FortescueMetals, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JCBamford excavators (JCB) and RyzeHydrogen (Ryze). According to the memorandum of understanding, FFI will sell 10% of its global green hydrogen production to two British companies. Editor/Xing Wentao