Andrew Forrest, founder and CEO of mega-miner Fortescue, is restructuring his energy business, delaying the company’s green hydrogen targets and shifting focus to renewable power, resulting in 700 job cuts.
Despite previously committing to a goal of producing 15Mt of green hydrogen by 2030, Fortescue has amended its timeline – still aiming to achieve this target over the coming years but acknowledging that the initial deadline was unrealistic.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Fortescue said the restructure would ensure the Perth-based mining company remains “lean, impactful, and agile.”
“As part of this, approximately 700 people from across Fortescue’s global operations will be offered redundancies, with that process to be finalized by the end of July 2024.” the statement read.
In recent years, Forrest has been an avid vocal supporter of green hydrogen, a clean fuel produced using renewable energy and water. However, Fortescue, like many other clean energy producers, is scaling back its green hydrogen plans due to high costs and slow demand.
Additionally, the company has merged its hydrogen division with its iron ore business, leading to significant executive turnover.
The redundancies announced on Wednesday would be offered by the end of July and affect staff globally, although Fortescue said that they would not be limited to the clean energy division.
