Mining mogul Andrew Forrest puts money where the mouth is on green hydrogen
No one can accuse Andrew Forrest of lacking ambition. The billionaire entrepreneur made a fortune by dismantling the West Australian iron ore duopoly of mining powerhouse BHP Group and Rio Tinto – something skeptics say can’t be done. He now wants to make another fortune by helping save the planet and turning the mining company he controls — Fortescue Metals Group — into a global leader in renewable energy, and green hydrogen in particular. During a recent visit to London for the FT Hydrogen Summit, Australia discussed its plans for FMG, denounced companies promoting blue hydrogen, and questioned Tesla’s Elon Musk’s green credentials. Forrest reckons his green energy unit, Fortescue Future Industries, could go from a standing start to producing 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030 — just 5 million tonnes less than the goal set by the European Commission over the same period. Elon Musk knows that almost every time a Tesla is plugged into almost every grid in the world, i