A long-standing project regarding to see the light of day, the arrival of the future floating power plant follows the project proposals planned as part of the replacement of the SLN Power Plant B, then validated in April 2022 by the mining group. 140 meters long and 42 meters wide, the future Centrale Accostée Temporaire (CAT) will soon be moored in the large harbor of Nouméa in order to supply the electricity that the Société Le Nickel (SLN) plant needs, following the decision to replace the 50-year-old “Centrale B”, following a fatal accident that occurred in May 2021.
With a power of 180MW, it will be able to provide the energy supply requested by SLN, but also possibly contribute to the public network. Built and operated by Karpowership, a Turkish manufacturer and the only operator in the world of this technology, the manufacturer will also send 50 specialized Turkish operators, who will be on the job during the rental period, set at 3 years.
However, his presence in the harbor of Nouméa provoked the ire of the association Ensemble Pour La Planète, whose president, Martine Cornaille, was invited by our colleagues from Caledonia. She mentioned the rejection of a similar project in South Africa due to a lack of transparency and regularity concerning studies related to environmental impacts, and reproached the Caledonian authorities for the same thing, which had just validated its operation without providing any document regarding the risks represented in terms of health and environmental impacts.
Damien Chaillot
