Fortescue has announced it will invest almost AUD 54 million ($35 million) to kickstart a major manufacturing facility in the United States that is expected to serve as a hub for the production of automotive and heavy industry batteries, hydrogen generators, electric vehicle fast chargers and electrolyzers.

Fortescue said the manufacturing facility is being developed in the state of Michigan as part of the company’s plan to rapidly expand its US presence as a direct result of the IRA.

The IRA, which is aimed at ramping up onshore production of renewable energy, electrification and the development of clean energy industries such as green hydrogen, offers subsidies, grants and tax breaks to businesses to establish clean energy projects in the United States.

Fortescue’s new manufacturing centre is expected to benefit directly from IRA tax credits for battery modules, offering approximately AUD 15 /kWh.

Fortescue Executive Chairman and founder Andrew Forrest said the IRA has changed the US from a laggard to a world leader in clean energy, demonstrating that countries which incentivise green energy place an “economic engine” firmly inside their economies.

“The IRA makes the United States the most attractive place in the world for green energy and green manufacturing projects,” he said.