By Shariq Khan
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Australian miner Fortescue is experiencing strong interest in its decarbonization-related offerings, Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest said in an interview, as he challenged U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that climate change is the "greatest con job" in the world.
Fortescue has set some of the most ambitious decarbonization targets among Australia's major miners, but was recently forced to walk away from some planned green hydrogen projects. The company, the world's
fourth-largest miner of iron ore, attributed the cancellation of a project in Arizona in part to a shift in U.S. policy away from green energy.
However, Forrest said he was not willing to give up despite mounting criticism of climate-driven initiatives by Trump, who on Tuesday dismissed climate change during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking on board Fortescue's Green Pioneer, which the company says is the world's first ship capable of running on green ammonia and diesel, Forrest condemned Trump's statement and challenged the president to debate him, even if it takes place in a courtroom.
"Sue me, but I'm saying you have no basis of fact to say that," the billionaire, who ranked among Australia's richest people, said.
"I sailed (the Green Pioneer) into the middle of the lion's den to make the point that I'd much rather be getting my fuel from the air, from the sun, from the wind, which is going to be infinite, than I would from drill, baby, drill," Forrest said.
Earlier on Thursday, Fortescue said it acquired Spanish wind technology company Nabrawind and signed an agreement for the purchase of wind turbines from Envision Energy. Those deals will help accelerate the deployment of renewable energy across Fortescue's operations, Forrest said.
Fortescue also said it would deploy a fleet of 300 to 400 battery-powered mining trucks capable of hauling 240-metric-ton loads, with deliveries planned from 2028 to 2030. Chinese mining equipment maker XCMG will supply up to half the trucks, while German-Swiss equipment manufacturer Liebherr will supply the remainder, the company said.
Fortescue's order book for battery-powered trucks developed in partnership with Liebherr is strong, Forrest said, without providing further details.
The miner was likely to exceed its target of reaching 2 to 3 gigawatts of renewable energy generation and storage in its domestic iron-ore operations by 2030, Forrest said.
"We will probably do more than that because we're getting more people wanting to join in," Forrest said.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York, editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)
