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Former Reserve Bank deputy Guy Debelle says Australia is well placed to become a green energy superpower, but warns we risk having the ‘grass under our feet’ without incentives to attract the necessary level of infrastructure investment.

Europe’s energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has ensured huge demand for renewable energy, says Debelle, who now leads billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries in its green hydrogen campaign.

“We are once again lucky as a country because we have some of the best renewable resources in the world,” Debelle told Citi’s Australian and New Zealand investment conference on Thursday.

“We have the comparative advantage in this area, but we may have the rug pulled from under us if other countries get there first,” he said.

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The U.S. Emissions Reduction Act is already spurring investment in sectors such as green hydrogen, according to Debelle, who said Australia could not afford to delay the incentives needed to attract the capital currently flowing into it. United States.

“The question is, how do you accelerate this large-scale investment? And that’s where there’s an opportunity for politics.

Debelle shocked the RBA in March this year when he resigned to become chief financial officer of Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).

Forrest’s Fortescue unveiled FFI in 2020 with a goal of producing 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, the same year the miner plans to achieve net zero emissions.

Last month, FFI announced plans to invest $130 million ($200 million) with Tree Energy Solutions, known as TES, to become a partner in a gas import terminal and processing center. green energy planned in Germany.

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