Australian miner Fortescue Metals has launched Fortescue Capital, a green energy investment accelerator platform headquartered in New York City, US.

To lead the initiative, Robert Tichio has been appointed CEO and MD of Fortescue Capital.

“Fortescue is taking its global pipeline of green hydrogen and green ammonia projects to final investment decision, and in doing so has communicated our intention and desire to bring additional equity investors on board,” said Fortescue Energy CEO Mark Hutchinson.

He highlighted the strategic importance of Fortescue Capital in driving the decarbonisation efforts of the group’s Pilbara operations, in Australia.

Fortescue Capital is being developed as a fiduciary for third-party capital, working in tandem with Fortescue Energy and Fortescue Metals’ internal corporate finance teams.

That platform aims to provide a dynamic approach to funding, with models tailored on a project-by-project basis, subject to formal approval by the Fortescue board.

The company expects to hold equity stakes between 25% and 50% in each project, with third-party investors.

Fortescue has identified a range of potential capital partners for Fortescue Capital, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and endowment insurance companies.

Before joining Fortescue, Tichio spent over 17 years at Riverstone Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm, which has seen total capital raised across a variety of private equity and related products exceed $42-billion.

Tichio will be joined by a senior leadership team with a global background across sustainable infrastructure, climate technology, energy and private markets, which includes Nathan Craig, Rael McNally and Jennifer Zarrilli. Each will serve as MDs and be based in New York.

“Fortescue has demonstrated unmatched leadership in calling for capital formation to support large-scale, industrial solutions that can provide durable and high-impact decarbonisation pathways for difficult-to-decarbonise emitting categories.

“I am thrilled to join the talented and passionate team at Fortescue to bring these projects to a global set of institutional investors,” commented Tichio.