Fortescue gets 12 Toyota Mirais as part of hydrogen push

Mining giant Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has backed its bold plans for hydrogen production with some of the biggest purchases of fuel cell electric vehicles in the country.

The Western Australia-based mining company chaired by billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrrest confirmed to EV Central that it is leasing 12 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric cars (FCEVs) in Australia – more than half that are planned to come into the country.

“We are also currently leasing 12 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and 10 Hyundai Ioniq electric vehicles,” said Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines in a statement ahead of her announcement she would soon be stepping down from the position.

She explained that “we are diversifying our business to become an integrated, global green renewables and green resources company”.

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Toyota was focusing on businesses based in Melbourne that could access the refueling station it set up at its Altona facility; the only other public hydrogen refueling stations is in Canberra.

But Fortescue is also working on its own hydrogen supply.

The company recently announced it would invest $1 billion in a plant to manufacture electrolysers in Queensland as part of a longer-term vision to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030.

And Fortescue is planning on powering some of its remote work vehicles with hydrogen.

“As a first step towards decarbonising our mobile fleet, we are replacing our existing fleet of diesel coaches at our Christmas Creek operations with 10 hydrogen-powered coaches,” said Gaines.

Fortescue has commissioned Hyzon – a specialist manufacturer of hydrogen trucks and buses – to produce the coaches as part of the $32 million project.

The project also includes installation of an on-site electrolyser and hydrogen refuelling station that will use renewable energy to produce hydrogen.

Fortescue has been one of the most proactive companies in pushing hydrogen in Australia, with Forrest recently raising the advantages of hydrogen during the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. He even went as far as to call for an end to the diesel fuel rebate that is estimated to save businesses including mining giants almost $8 billion annually.

The only other hydrogen fuel cell EV on sale in Australia is the Hyundai Nexo. Sales figures suggest there are 26 Nexos in Australia.