By Rhiannon Hoyle

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. on Friday said it has signed an agreement with nonprofit Industrial Park at TransAlta in Centralia, Wash., to look at ways to convert a former coal mine into a green hydrogen production facility.

The clean energy venture of Australia's Fortescue, one of the world's top iron-ore miners, wants to repurpose existing fossil fuel infrastructure to create a green hydrogen plant that it said could form part of a Pacific Northwest renewable hydrogen hub.

Industrial Park at TransAlta, or IPAT, was formed to support industrial development on TransAlta Corp.'s former mining land, where the Centralia coal pit was shuttered in 2006.

A TransAlta coal-fired power plant adjacent to the IPAT project site is scheduled to close in 2025.

"Subject to the outcome of the feasibility studies, [Fortescue's] intention would be to seek to employ the existing coal workforce for the proposed project, facilitating a transition into the emerging green energy economy," the Australian company said in a statement.

TransAlta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fortescue also said it would apply for a U.S. Department of Energy hydrogen hub program grant in collaboration with other entities including utility Puget Sound Energy, a subsidiary of Puget Holdings.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2022 20:46 ET (00:46 GMT)

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