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Australia’s Iron Corridor is one of the busiest shipping routes on earth—and one of the hardest to decarbonise. We sit down with NH3 Clean Energy chair Charles Whitfield to map a practical path forward: large-scale clean ammonia produced in the Pilbara, bunkered at Dampier, and burned by a new generation of ammonia-ready ships. Instead of chasing hype, we dig into the concrete pieces now falling into place: a 650,000 tpa phase one (scaling to 1.3 million), a 2029 first production target, and a landmark MOU with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Oceania Marine Energy to build a reliable bunkering ecosystem.

We unpack the demand flywheel driven by Japanese and Korean energy policies and the looming economics of the IMO’s carbon pricing from 2028. Charles explains why an end-to-end value chain matters—production at Maitland, near-port storage for fast turnarounds, refuelling tankers operated by Oceania, and MOL’s leadership on the Pilbara–Asia route—to make switching easy for iron ore exporters. A scarce 7.5-hectare site at the Port of Dampier emerges as a quiet game-changer, enabling storage buffers, efficient loading, and scalable capacity for both export cargoes and marine fuel, reducing bottlenecks and downtime.

We also talk investor milestones on the road to a 2026 final investment decision: approvals, detailed engineering, construction and operations agreements, and financing pathways. Whether via traditional project finance and an EPC partner or a build–own–operate collaboration, the team’s strategy is to de-risk delivery while aligning with Western Australia’s push to become a global renewable energy powerhouse. If you’re tracking clean shipping, hydrogen and ammonia markets, or ASX-listed energy transition plays, this conversation lays out the how, not just the why.

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