Going green in Gladstone - how a new renewable energy facility is ready to drive the future in Australia’s clean energy capital

With Fortescue Future Industries’ (FFI) Green Energy Manufacturing Centre in Gladstone progressing towards commencement of production, we caught up with Eva Hanly, FFI’s East Australia and New Zealand Director to find out how you plan for a brand-new industry, the challenges and opportunities ahead for green hydrogen, and Gladstone’s future as a clean energy capital.

Electrons and molecules

Eva splits the stages of Australia’s decarbonisation journey into two parts: green electrons and green molecules.

Green electrons refer to the electricity generated and stored by renewable sources (such as wind, solar and pumped hydro), an area Eva says is an accepted commercial and political strategy for energy production. A green molecule is a product produced by green electrons – in the case of FFI’s primary focus, this is green hydrogen, produced by an electrolyser powered by a renewable energy source.

‘There isn’t a company in the world that doesn’t want to invest in green electrons at the moment, because the commercial model is absolutely proven,’ Eva says. ‘The next wave, in my view, is green molecules and green fuels. That’s where you need companies like FFI, which are prepared to be at that cutting edge – to be the leader as opposed to being the follower.’

The challenge that FFI seeks to solve is how to decarbonise complex heavy industry sectors in Australia and overseas that still rely on oil and gas. In order to meet these large-scale demands, production of the technology able to produce a huge amount of hydrogen is essential.

Enter the clean energy capital of Queensland ...

The GEM in Gladstone’s crown

In early 2021, FFI undertook an Australia-wide search to find the most suitable location to set up its Green Energy Manufacturing Centre (GEM): the world’s largest electrolyser production facility. In October 2021, it was announced that the GEM would be built in Aldoga, near Gladstone.

As Eva explains, the decision was an obvious one.

‘When we realised we needed to have a big role in the supply chain of creating green hydrogen, we did look nationally at where the best place for that was,’ she says. ‘We landed on Gladstone in Queensland, for a number of reasons.’

‘Number one was that it was part of a green energy manufacturing location. The Queensland Government had identified Gladstone as one of the key areas where it wanted to support major industrial development. Having that Queensland Government support was absolutely one of the key drivers for us.’

‘We see that region as a whole area that will evolve into a green industry precinct – we saw lots of opportunities for this facility kickstarting that region and becoming a leader, nationally.’

The GEM facility has been constructed within the Gladstone State Development Area (SDA), one of 12 areas across the state planned and managed by the Coordinator-General which includes land owned by Economic Development Queensland. The Coordinator-General worked with FFI to ensure comprehensive information was available to ensure a streamlined development assessment and approval process and in March 2022, construction began.

Eva says operating within a precinct targeting green energy projects offers a number of benefits, key among them opportunities for local employment.

‘When you're building a new industry from scratch, there are real benefits in having organisations, companies and businesses that are all focused on that new industry located in a similar geographic location,’ Eva says. ‘Also from a workforce perspective, a huge number of jobs will come out of this industry, making the Gladstone area a centre for new jobs, training and opportunities.’

The facility reached practical completion in April 2023 and is beginning the fit-out process (“bringing in the robots”, as Eva puts it).

‘It’s really exciting to be bringing in everything we need to create this gigafactory,’ Eva says. ‘We can’t wait to move into commercial scale production this year.’

Queensland leading Australia’s renewable future

As for as what the future holds for Australia’s renewable energy sector, Eva is cautiously optimistic. With investment flowing overseas in the wake of massive renewable sector subsidy announcements such as the US Inflation Reduction Act, Eva says the time to act is now.

‘I think Australia’s future GDP will come from the green energy sector, but, as an Australian, it’s concerning to see capital shifting overseas,’ she says. ‘Australia has to look at these other jurisdictions and put something similar here to kick-start our industry.’

With Australia’s unique combination of resources, labour and knowledge, Eva believes the country’s renewable energy opportunity is too great to miss.

‘Subsidies don’t have to last forever, but the opportunity here is so large,’ she explains. ‘We have incredible natural resources, incredible skills, research and technology sectors, a hugely qualified and experienced workforce and we’ve got countries in Asia who are already wanting to import green fuels from us, so we’ve got all the building blocks we need.’

Luckily for the Sunshine State, Eva believes Queensland is leading the way in capitalising on its potential as a renewable energy superpower.

‘In terms of the Queensland Government, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of interest, support and commitment to this huge opportunity to support investment in the green sector,’ she says.

‘I’ve been really thrilled with how the Queensland Government has worked with us so far and look forward to it continuing to do so. I think the potential is limitless.’

This is just one way in which the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning is supporting the development of a renewable hydrogen industry in Queensland.