In Europe, energy prices, especially gas and electricity, have exploded this winter. In France, the increase in the regulated tariff was contained by the government. But some manufacturers remain exposed to this outbreak. Prices have soared on the spot markets, to the point that some companies have reduced their production. The Nyrstar zinc refinery even stopped production. Report in Auby, in the north of France.
The blast of machinery and the white plume of steam are deceptive. No more zinc sheets are produced at this time in the factory. The electrolysis hall is stopped, it is the most energy-intensive part of the site, because it is the current which makes it possible to fix the zinc on an aluminum plate, underlines Éric Brassart, managing director of Nyrstar.
” The Auby plant, in terms of electricity, is classified as electrointensive, because our zinc production when the plant is running at full capacity is roughly the equivalent of a large city like Lille or Lyon and its suburb. So that means that the vagaries of the factory are seen on the network. »
” These prices, no one has known them »
As a major consumer of electricity, the site benefits from stable prices for part of its needs. The rest is bought on the market. This is where the problem lies : ” The price of electricity, we had it in the 40-42 euros per megawatt hour the last ten years, and today we have prices that are several hundred euros “.
However, the price of zinc is also set by the market. It is therefore the margins that are cropped: “ At these volumes of electricity prices, we were losing money turning. We therefore preferred to stop “.
Éric Brassart welcomes the increase in the overall volume of ARENH, regulated access to historical nuclear energy. But that does not solve everything in this crisis which has caught the company off guard: “ The problem got resolved. I have never known these prices and no one has known them. And we know that the ARENH will stop in 2025. The ambition is to say how we could do to protect against this exposure to prices that are not sustainable, and to think about long-term contracts “.
A stop that could become recurrent
This judgment has no impact, for the moment, on employment. The company takes the opportunity to carry out and prepare for maintenance work. So Margot Nadolny, supply chain manager, remains calm: ” We take the opportunity to reorganize certain things that we don’t necessarily have time to do in full activity. You have to see it as an opportunity “.
The daily life of Fabrice Martin, gas mask under his chin, is not really altered. The situation saddens him all the same: I have been hired for 30 years and this is the first time that we have stopped production. It’s still worrying “.
A concern shared by Nasser Sadki. The CGT union representative fears that he will not be able to close the door that has just opened: “ If we stop once this year, next year we are still with nuclear power plants under maintenance, we start a second stop, which is quite possible. The short and medium term concern is the day when the price of zinc will drop. We’ll start again, unless we have another agreement “.
The important thing to prepare for next year, underlines Nasser Sadki, will be to run at full capacity from April to October, the period on which the next allocation of electricity at moderate prices is calculated.