How do you face competition when you have high production costs?
By displaying more concern for ecological transition than its competitors, responds New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the Pacific Ocean and the world's fifth largest producer of nickel.
“
We will never be cheaper than our Indonesian or Filipino competitors, which is why we want to be champions of 'green' nickel.
This will be an advantage for us on the world market”
, explained Christopher Gygés, member of the Caledonian government in charge of energy transition.
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He will present this week a revision of the New Caledonia Energy Transition Plan (Stenc), which provides for the use of 50% renewable energies in metallurgy by 2030.
A very ambitious objective, while the weight of the mining industry of the archipelago, the lung of its economy, makes it one of the worst CO emitters on the planet, at a rate of 29.6 tonnes per year and per inhabitant .
The three factories in the territory now operate mainly with oil or coal-fired power stations.
The most advanced operator in the field of “green nickel” is Prony Resources.
In 2020, it took over the Brazilian Vale complex, supplied by the Goro deposit and whose main client is the Tesla automotive group.
In December, Prony Resources concluded an agreement with TotalEnergies on the construction of a mega-photovoltaic power station.
This should come into service in 2025 and cover two-thirds of the site's electricity needs.