The origins of this explosion are currently being investigated.
The employee seriously injured on Monday morning in an explosion at the power plant that supplies the metallurgical plant of Société Le Nickel (SLN) in New Caledonia succumbed to her injuries, the unit operator announced. .
The explosion occurred Monday at 8 a.m. (local time) at the fuel-fired power station, which supplies the SLN metallurgical plant, a subsidiary of French Eramet, located at the entrance to Nouméa.
An Enercal agent, who manages the 150 Megawatt unit, died in the early afternoon of her injuries at the territorial hospital, the company said in a statement, which sent its support to relatives of the victim.
A return-to-service test phase
“All of the technical recommendations have been put in place to secure the site.
[…] The facilities are now safe.
An investigation is underway, ”Nicolas de Cointet, chief operating officer of Enercal, told reporters.
The accident occurred on one of the four boilers, during a restart test phase after an overhaul of this aging and polluting plant, built around 50 years ago. Many times postponed, the project to build a new gas-fired power station could see the light of day by 2024. SLN is Caillou's largest private employer, and last year produced 47,000 tonnes of ferronickel.
