No truce for homes, nor the giants of the industry. The first energy crisis of the era of ecological transition is taking its toll on companies as well.
Rising electricity prices have forced zinc producer Nyrstar to cut production by as much as 50%. Three of its European smelters are affected, including the one in Budel-Dorplein in the Netherlands.
"Producing zinc consumes a lot of electricity. Electricity prices have risen so that the benefit we obtain on the zinc we produce is less and less. At times it is more expensive to produce zinc than not. At those times we obviously do not produce zinc. ", defended the general manager of the Nyrstar plant in Budel-Dorplein, Henk Leenderste.
This plant is fully electrified. Now electricity spending represents 80% of the cost of producing zinc, while last year it only represented 50%.
But there is another obstacle. Even if the electricity used is green, the price of polluting in Europe adds to the bill. "Carbon emissions from electricity providers end up impacting our industry. We pay for the CO2 from electricity even though 100% of the electricity we buy is green. Industry was compensated for that through European regulations, but now that corresponds to national governments. But not all countries in Europe are applying it, and the Netherlands is one of those countries that is not really applying it now, "explains Leenderste.
Nyrstar calls on the Dutch government to compensate industries for the economic consequences of the green transition. Before it is too late. "If they want to be on a level playing field in Europe, this compensation must be given to all interested industries and to all European countries. (...) European companies are already making a great effort to reduce their climate footprint. (... ) If in addition to that there is an economic disadvantage for paying a higher price or because you do not receive compensation, there will be a time when you will not be able to continue making efforts to reduce your emissions and pay a higher price ", believes the president of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers, Peter Claes.
Like other energy-intensive industries, Nyrstar is trying to meet customer demand and avoid laying off its workers. But for how long?
