Nickel: the coal plant that still darkens the carbon footprint of New Caledonia
The processing plant of Nickel SLN in Noumea. Angela Bolis / LeMonde.fr
When you enter Noumea , capital of New Caledonia , you can not miss : the factory of Société Le Nickel ( SLN) , coupled with its power plant spreads its iron structures and chimneys , which spit some days thick smoke tinted reddish. Here, this industrial site is a part of the landscape for 103 years , almost as SLN , the world leader in the production of ferronickel .
Debated in the Caledonian capital, replacing its old plant to fuel a coal plant was reaffirmed Thursday, November 21 , as " priority one " SLN by the CEO of its parent company Eramet , Patrick Buffet, while the company suffered the brunt of the fall in nickel prices . A qualified crisis "very, very violent " Mr. Buffet, who encrypted the " huge " loss of SLN 2.5 billion French Pacific francs ( 20 million euros) per month.
