Fortescue Future Industries has signed its second hydropower agreement in a week, with the Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary agreeing with the Government of Indonesia on a pact that allows it priority to investigate projects using the country’s hydropower and geothermal resources for ‘green’ industrial operations.

This comes on top of the government and Minderoo Foundation, a company chaired by Fortescue Metals Chairman, Andrew Forrest, signing a letter of intent to dramatically reduce plastic pollution in Indonesia’s coastal waters by 2025.

The Deed of Agreement provides first priority to Fortescue Future Industries to conduct development studies into the feasibility of projects using Indonesia’s hydropower and geothermal resources to support green industrial operations, principally for export to global markets, it said.

Subject to the completion of feasibility studies and approvals, individual projects will be developed by Fortescue Future Industries with ownership and project finance sources to be separately secured without recourse to Fortescue.

This follows a similar green hydropower agreement with the PNG government, signed recently.

“Fortescue Future Industries is underpinned by Fortescue’s world-class expertise, operational excellence and proven capability to drive future growth,” the company said. “Fortescue is a values-based business, committed to investing in the long-term sustainability of its core business while pursuing growth and development and delivering returns to shareholders.”

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said: “Indonesia and Fortescue Future Industries have entered into a preliminary binding agreement to assess the development of Indonesia’s substantial renewable power to drive green industries.”

Minister Luhut and Fortescue’s Forrest said in a joint statement: “The establishment of totally new and future large-scale industries will drive growth in Indonesia’s economy.”

Forrest added: “We have historically always enriched our organisation by providing training for guaranteed employment to local communities who have then strongly supported the projects we have developed together. We expect the new green industries in Indonesia to substantially diversify, broaden and deepen Indonesia’s already skilled workforce.”

Minister Luhut commented: “For too many decades, proposals have been thrust upon Indonesia that rely on the Indonesian people assuming the full financial risk through the purchase of electricity at prices that underwrote these developments. This agreement allows Fortescue Future Industries to access all the major hydropower and geothermal opportunities in Indonesia and establish downstream value adding industry to fully utilise the power created from sustainable energy sites.”

Meanwhile, through a joint partnership with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, Minderoo Foundation will pilot its ‘Sea The Future’ initiative in Indonesia to scale up recycling and waste collection infrastructure and operations. Sea The Future is a coalition of leading companies in the plastics industry committed to ending plastic leakage to nature and accelerating the transition to a circular plastics economy, according to Fortescue.