Hydrogen industry figures meet as Geraldton prepares for Pathway to Net Zero

Representatives from a number of big players in the Mid West hydrogen game met with the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry to launch the 2023 Mid West Economic Summit, which will take place at the end of the month.

Figures from BP, Fortescue Future Industries, Strike Energy, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Iluka Resources and Mid-West Hydrogen Technology Cluster — all groups investing in hydrogen production in the Mid West — met to launch the summit, which has the theme Pathway to Net Zero.

Decarbonisation will be the focus with many keynote speakers, and MWCCI chief executive Joanne Fabling said the summit would be an opportunity for industry figures to meet and discuss how they could best take advantage of what the Mid West had to offer.

“In launching this summit, what it’s doing for the region is informing,” Ms Fabling said.

“We’re asking, ‘what opportunities are coming into our region for hydrogen renewables and decarbonisation,’ we’re working with agencies and stakeholders to see what the priorities are, and we’re looking at our local businesses, our capabilities and asking what we need to do to meet net zero targets for 2050.”

MWCCI president Todd West said the focus would not only be on big companies involved in the energy sector, but on all companies as they navigated the green transition.

“It doesn’t matter how big the business, you can be a cafe owner or a mechanic, at the end of the day, you will be affected by the net zero targets,” Mr West said.

“That pathway is not going to be easy, this summit will actually show you some of the the ‘how to’, and you’ll be able to walk away from the summit with an understanding of what your business actually needs to do.”