Fortescue and its partners envision a business model called the "Global LH2 Consortium", under which hydrogen created through solar and wind energy sources in Australia will be transported to Japan in liquefied hydrogen marine carriers.

The agreement comes after Fortescue in November revealed plans for the construction of a 250MW green hydrogen plant at the Bell Bay Industrial Precinct in Tasmania, which would also produce 250,000 t/yr of green ammonia - FID is scheduled for next year.

"This partnership with Kawasaki and Iwatani will help position Fortescue at the forefront of the establishment of a global renewable hydrogen industry," said Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines.

"By leveraging our value chain and market access as well as the skills and capability of our people to rapidly develop complex projects, we believe Fortescue is well placed to meet the future demand of green hydrogen."

Fortescue has been working with Australian research organisation CSIRO on the development of a membrane technology which provides for large-scale hydrogen extraction from ammonia.

The company has also launched a A$32 million (US$24 million) hydrogen transport project that will see 10 hydrogen coaches replace the existing fleet of diesel coaches at its Christmas Creek mining project. 

Last July, Kawasaki Heavy Industries began construction of a A$500 million ($355 million) liquefaction and loading terminal in Victoria state for a pilot project that will use hydrogen created from brown coal from Australia's largest coal mine, Loy Yang, owned by AGL Energy.