Hybrid-Pressekonferenz: E.ON SE und Fortescue Future Industries / Unterzeichnung eines MoU

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are here today, and this is truly exciting. We are opening a new horizon. At this very moment, just a short walk from here in Berlin's Oranienburg district, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the Federal Foreign Minister are opening something very important. The goal is clear: key decision-makers from politics, business, and all walks of life are coming together to work on solutions under the motto 'energy transition from vision to action'. Fortescue Future Industries and E.ON are providing an answer today. We have launched the largest hydrogen economy project ever seen worldwide. Within a few years, we will produce green, renewable hydrogen in Australia in previously unseen volumes and bring it to Europe. We will make it available on a large scale to 1,000 municipal utilities. We want to start in 2024 with up to 200,000 tons and then step by step ramp up to a massive five million tons per year by 2030. The alliance of FFI and E.ON, which we are sealing today with the signing of our Memorandum of Understanding, has everything needed for this unique project: two strong partners for the common goal of decarbonization. This is the core of our strategy. FFI and E.ON share the same values, which is why we have already joined forces for the green transformation of the economy. We complement each other with our capabilities; it is a perfect match. We are building hydrogen bridges from Australia to Europe, and that is something entirely new. Our Australian partner uses the sun on the fifth continent to generate energy for producing green hydrogen. They will build the infrastructure there and organize shipping to Europe. We at E.ON have the distribution networks to bring the green hydrogen everywhere it is needed—not only in Germany but also in other European countries, especially the Netherlands. And we have customers who will take the green hydrogen, initially mainly in Germany and the Netherlands, and later in other European markets. Together, we will supply thousands of municipal utilities, thousands of hidden champions with 100,000 jobs. Together, we will supply 1,000 municipalities with millions of people. This closes a real gap because, unlike large corporations, these customers cannot secure green hydrogen through individual contracts. Today stands for a common beginning. We are losing no time. Our joint task force has already begun clarifying issues regarding infrastructure and technology. We have agreed to jointly conduct studies. We proceed step by step based on study results, which will determine when and how much can be delivered and distributed. We welcome the support of the Austrian and German governments. Ambassador Green, State Secretary Kellner, we are very grateful for your presence. Political backing for such large projects is crucial. Without it, it won't work. Economy and federal government, Australia, hand in hand. To ensure it works, Germany and Australia concluded their hydrogen agreement in 2021. We build on that today. We look forward to further close cooperation on both our hydrogen bridges. I am personally very enthusiastic, and I am sure Dr. Forrest will be too when he speaks. I hope our enthusiasm is infectious. Ladies and gentlemen, the world is in upheaval more than ever—geopolitically, economically, energy-politically, climate-politically. Only together can we shape a new structure. Only together can we make a difference. Only together can we bring the old world into the new. Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Europe—shared values for shared energy. Thank you very much.

Thank you for the question. We will now jointly conduct studies to determine exactly. We aim for 2024; that is our ambitious goal. As for the networks, they already exist. There is not much to do except decide how the hydrogen will land, how we land it and distribute it, and how quickly. We also need to activate customers. But it will all come quickly. We are glad to be here, but the real work begins now.

The answer to the question is: we start with blending into the natural gas network, that is already legally possible. Naturally, there will come a point where we say that is not enough; then we will convert everything to green hydrogen. But we have to build up the business together because there will not suddenly be a separate network for gas and a separate one for hydrogen. Customers cannot switch overnight. It must be done step by step as we said.

For the network, we need a lot to invest, that is very clear. For the other part, that will come out of the studies we conduct together with FFI. We will communicate about that then. We cannot say much now because there are many unknown factors and variables; we first need to work it out.