The company said the 15,000m2 advanced manufacturing facility, constructed and fully commissioned in just over two years, is among the first with an automated assembly line.
Fortescue Energy chief executive Mark Hutchinson said that demand for green hydrogen is growing rapidly because of the need for decarbonisation.
“This facility positions Fortescue and Gladstone as a large-scale producer of what will be an increasingly sought-after commodity in the global shift to green energy,” he said.
Noting his company’s focus on green energy projects, he added that Fortescue was now “designing and manufacturing the specialised equipment and technology that will underpin our green hydrogen projects and that of others”.
Fortescue executive chair and founder Andrew Forrest said that Fortescue and Queensland had “laid the cornerstone for what will be a massive new manufacturing industry in Australia creating the potential for thousands of new green energy jobs”.
Government support
The Queensland government provided an electrical substation, road network, communications and local water connections, while the Australian government contributed AUD44 million ($28.6 million) from the collaboration stream of the modern manufacturing initiative.
The electrolyser facility is the first stage of a wider green energy manufacturing centre being developed by Fortescue on the 100-hectare Gladstone site.
Fortescue aims to decarbonise the Australian iron ore operations of Fortescue Metals, one of the world's largest producers of iron ore, by 2030.
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