Fortescue Chief Says Trump Has Done More for Climate Agenda Than Anyone in a Century
The chief executive of Fortescue says the iron ore giant’s transition to renewable energy has been accelerated by the economic impact of US President Donald Trump’s war on Iran. The mining company is aiming to lead the industry by reaching “real zero” emissions within four years, a goal it claims has become much easier due to recent global events.
While Fortescue has long maintained that moving to wind, solar, battery storage and electric mining equipment is an economic necessity, it states the transition has been significantly boosted by recent surges and lingering uncertainty in fossil fuel prices.
Speaking at the Pilbara Summit in Karratha, Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto highlighted the extreme volatility currently facing the market.
“It cost me 400 bucks to fill up my dual cab (ute) the other day with diesel, and then two weeks later, cost me 200 bucks,” Mr Otranto said.
“Already I’m starting to think, well, that was just an anomaly. I’m not going to change my ways, right? But if you look back the last 20 or 30 years, you can now start counting those anomalies, you can measure them as a frequency. What we’ve seen in the Strait of Hormuz, and I can’t believe I’m going to be saying these words, but Trump’s done more to progress the climate agenda in three months than anybody has in the last 100 years.”
Mr Otranto said the geopolitical situation meant businesses could no longer rely on energy security. He noted that trying to forecast capital deployment during 200 per cent swings in energy supply was completely crazy.
“When we’re talking about the economics of turning off diesel and diesel price doubles, diesel fuel tax incentives alone get blown out of the water. It’s simple economics. It is now a no-brainer,” he said.
The Pilbara region remains one of the most fossil fuel-intense areas in the country, with renewables currently accounting for just two per cent of the total electricity supply. Mr Otranto acknowledged the criticism the company had received regarding the challenges of building infrastructure in some of the harshest conditions on earth. However, he revealed Fortescue is currently constructing one of the largest off-grid energy networks on the planet.
The network will eventually include more than a gigawatt of solar generation, hundreds of megawatts of wind, gigawatts of battery storage, and hundreds of kilometres of transmission infrastructure. By early next year, the company expects to have 290 megawatts of firm renewable energy operating across its network, which is the equivalent of about half of Perth’s energy demand. By late next year, Fortescue aims to process all its ore around the clock using 100 per cent renewable power.
To achieve this, the company has adopted cutting edge technologies, including automation, robotics and self lifting wind turbines. Mr Otranto stated that the entire Pilbara’s share of renewables will rise to 25 per cent once Fortescue completes its installations, opening up further opportunities for green metals, data centres and hydrogen.