A call for projects to provide green energy to the SLN has been launched
A call for projects to produce 130 MW in photovoltaics for the SLN, currently powered by the Doniambo power station, has been launched. This represents 84% of Nouméa's electricity consumption.
It is an ambitious target geared towards clean energies and if successful could also be developed for the South plant and the North plant.
© Pierre-Alain Pantz – SOLARIS
The territory is currently dependent at 85% on fossil fuels such as coal, heavy fuel oil or gas. Out of the total country’s energy consumption, 75% is used up by the three nickel factories, which produce 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The government as well as mining executives are determined to a greener future.
Photovoltaic energy has been favoured by the government as it is the easiest and the cheapest to implement. According to André Boudart, the managing director at the Agence Calédonienne de l'Énergie (ACE), the price of photovoltaic energy has halved in the past 5 years. For the production of the SLN to be fully based on green energies, 1.000 hectares of solar panels would be required, ten times the current area of panels in Caledonia.
“The metallurgical industry requires stable energy and at the moment only fossil fuels are able to meet this condition. However, with technological innovation, we will have more possibilities of integrating stable renewable energies, through storage systems either based on batteries or hydrogen. We are talking about a horizon of 15 to 20 years”, explains André Boudart.