Gladstone, QLD set to have one of the world’s largest hydrogen manufacturing hubs

One of the world’s largest hydrogen-equipment manufacturing facility is planned for Gladstone, as part of a new partnership between the Queensland Government and renewable energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).

The facility is expected to create over 300 jobs during the life of the project, with the announced partnership set to create thousands of jobs for years to come.

FFI’s Global Green Energy Manufacturing Centre will be the first of a series of projects which will aim to support regional Australia’s green industry manufacturing and energy production centres.

Stage one of six for the project will establish Australia’s first multi-gigawatt-scale electrolyser factory. This facility will have an initial capacity of two gigawatts per annum, which will be more than double the current global production.

In the initial stage, a $114 million investment from FFI will create 120 construction jobs and 53 operational jobs, with the first electrolysers scheduled for production in early 2023.

Hydrogen electrolysers use power to split hydrogen from water. When produced using renewable power the hydrogen is emission free.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as a result of the partnership, Gladstone would become one of the world’s leading hubs for the manufacture of electrolysers – vital to the production of renewable hydrogen.

“We don’t just want to export our resources – we want to develop a manufacturing industry capable of making the electrolysers in Queensland as well,” she said. “This partnership will create local jobs, support our economic recovery and create an advanced manufacturing industry in Gladstone that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country.”

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the deal was a boost for Queensland’s growing credentials as an emerging market for renewable hydrogen.

“FFI will now progress plans to build a facility on land developed by the Queensland Government at Aldoga within the Gladstone State Development Area,” he said. “This project will put Gladstone on the map as a world leader in the renewable-hydrogen supply chain.”

In addition to a diverse range of domestic projects that are progressing, hydrogen export facilities are also being investigated at a large number of Queensland’s ports including the Port of Gladstone, Port of Townsville and Port of Hay Point, south of Mackay.

The proposal is subject to land use planning and development approvals.