Quinbrook starts work on $3.5 billion green steel project in Queensland

Queensland, Australia could become home to one of the largest green steel projects in the world, with Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (QIP) announcing it has commenced development of a proposed $3.5 billion steel plant that would utilize green hydrogen from Australia largest GH2 development.

Quinbrook is looking to exploit a deposit named 'Eulogie resource', which has emerged the largest known magnetite deposit in Queensland, with an estimated 465 million tonnes of ore available for low-cost extraction. The company has partnered with Central Queensland Metals (CQM) which holds the exploration permits for Eulogie, located 70 km west of the town of Gladstone.

Quinbrook, a specialist global investment management firm focused exclusively on infrastructure for energy transition, said it would sponsor the detailed evaluation and testing of the ore to prove its quality and scale.

Post exploration and development, the mined Eulogie ore would be transported to the Gladstone State Development Zone, which would produce green iron using green hydrogen produced by the Central Queensland Hydrogen Project. 

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CQHP is a 2.2 GW GH2 development currently undergoing front end engineering design work. The project, described as the biggest hydrogen project in Australia, involves installation of up to 640 MW of electrolyzers which will produce up to 200 tonnes per day of green hydrogen by 2028.

David Scaysbrook, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, said in a statement: "Gladstone has all the fundamentals needed for a world class green iron project with many compelling cost advantages including what looks to be a world class ore deposit in close proximity to existing port infrastructure, as well as established road, rail and high voltage transmission infrastructure and more importantly, direct access to central Queensland's abundant renewable power endowment. These are the exact fundamentals that hopeful green steel producers need and are scouring the planet for and we have them right here in Gladstone."

Besides Gladstone, Quinbrook said it was also currently developing a portfolio of renewable energy and storage projects in central Queensland that would help power multiple new energy intensive manufacturing projects that had been planned for the Gladstone region.