Workshop participants agreed the principal goal for the industry must be to accelerate one or two Lighthouse green iron projects towards financial close by the end of 2027 and achieve commercial operations before 2030. This will test-drive the right approach – from technology and policy to permissions and financing – need to deliver success. In turn, this will reduce risks and anchor early investor confidence – both essential to mobilizing the commercial bank lending and institutional investment needed for the industry to scale up. To deliver FIDs on these Lighthouse projects by late-2027, the following five priority actions are necessary: Government to provide additional, coordinated and targeted supply-side incentives The government’s AU$1 billion Green Iron Investment Fund and production tax incentive of AU$2/kg for renewable hydrogen are welcome. But they are not sufficient to match either the scale of the opportunity to transform Australia’s leading export – or the risk of failing to seize it. Participants identified a key role the government could play in taking on more early-stage risk. Urgent action is needed, since FIDs on Lighthouse projects must consider all incentives well in advance. These could include: –Additional grant funding and concessional finance, coordinated and targeted at bridging the early-stage bankability of green iron projects. –A production tax incentive for green iron that enables the industry to compete with fossil- fuelled incumbents in international markets. This tax credit could match the critical minerals production tax incentive, due to come into force in 2027. Boost demand through private offtake commitments and public procurement mandates Australia’s green iron industry cannot exist on the life-support of government grants alone – a healthy future depends on significant injections of market demand, for example: –Greater private sector offtake commitments by 2030, aggregated by platforms including the First Movers Coalition and RMI’s Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform. –Government procurement of green iron. For example, Australia’s “Major Public Infrastructure Pipeline” demands 8.1 Mt of steel over four years to 2028 – mandating 50% of this as green steel from local production would send a very strong demand signal to the industry. –Government contracts for difference. CfDs, offered for products sold within Australia, could help bridge the gap between pricing and production costs. Implement fast-track approvals for renewable energy projects supporting green iron and steel Access to sufficient, affordable green electricity is one of the top barriers hampering Australia’s green iron and steel industry, said participants. To compete with markets such as the Middle East, it is critical for Australia to lower the cost of the green energy needed to decarbonize its largest export industry. Slow permitting pushes up risks and costs, so accelerating approvals for both renewables and green hydrogen projects is essential: –An “overriding public interest” test would fast-track approvals to build the infrastructure needed to supply sufficient, cheap green energy where the industry needs it. –One-window approvals would streamline a permissions process currently mired in bureaucracy. Implement consistent “green” standards and certification Buyers need to know and trust what the “green” in green iron actually means. Workshop participants deemed third-party certification as the most critical mechanism to build trust in early offtake agreements. Urgent measures include the following: –Create consistent definitions and methodologies for emissions limits, accounting standards and certification, aligned with international frameworks. ANU’s Embedded Emissions Accounting (EEA) principles and the government’s Guarantee of Origin scheme are a good start. –Decide on the role of gas: is gas-based DRI/EAF, which reduces steelmaking emissions by ~35- 40% compared to the BF-BOF process, a valid transition pathway, if it blends in green hydrogen over the next decade as the market develops? 5.2 Five priority actions needed during FY2026-27 to deliver Lighthouse project success Action 1 Action 2Action 3 Action 4 Unlocking Asia-Pacific as a First Mover: Australia’s Green Iron Opportunity 47

Unlocking Asia-Pacific as a First Mover 2025