LUDOVIC MARIN v AFP
Macron defended energy projects during his visit to Mongolia on Sunday May 21st. (Pictured: Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene and Emmanuel Macron shake hands at the Government Palace in Ulaanbaatar.)
ENERGY – Copper, gold, iron, uranium, rare earths, oil… Mongolia is often referred to as Asia’s “geological safe” and this has not escaped Emmanuel Macron’s eye. The head of state was received this Sunday, May 21, for the first visit by a French president to Mongolia, where he promoted a China-Russia energy partnership with the landlocked country. One of the natural resources that most interests the President is uranium destined for nuclear energy, on which his energy strategy is based.
During his visit, Emmanuel Macron also vigorously defended the cause of the French nuclear company Orano, which has been in the country since 1997 and is a candidate for a major uranium mining program. This project, which still requires approval from the Mongolian government, could become one of the most significant mines in the world.
Crucial resource for the energy transition
The head of state assured that the site will adhere to the “best environmental and social standards” while the company is often criticized by local environmental movements. “The partnership with Orano is a structuring element”, “it will make it possible to extract extremely important critical metals”, he added, referring to his quest for “energy sovereignty” for France.
Since the early 2000s, all of the uranium used in French nuclear power plants has been imported, an article in Liberation recalls. On average, EDF needs around 7,800 tons of natural uranium every year to operate its nuclear fleet, and according to our colleagues’ research, it mainly uses the Orano Group for this.
Paris is trying at all costs to detach its supplies from Russia, which now relies on “diversified sources, mostly based in Australia, Kazakhstan and Niger in 2021,” the Energy Transition Ministry told CheckNews in July 2022 .
France also has other projects in its sights to exploit new rare earths, which are abundant in the Mongolian underground. These include some that are critical to the transition to zero-carbon energy, such as the lithium needed for electric vehicle batteries.
Decarbonization of the Mongolian economy
In return, Paris pledges to facilitate financing of Mongolia’s ecological transition through cooperation on renewable energy and nuclear energy. Subject to extreme temperatures, this semi-desert country is particularly vulnerable to climate change. In addition, on the French side, we explain that the country relies on 90% coal for its electricity and therefore needs to decarbonize its economy.
Currently, 86% of all Mongolia’s exports of goods together go to China. Half of these Chinese purchases are coal. “The fact that Mongolia is on the way back (from Hiroshima, editor’s note) allows us to take this historic first step,” with important missions at a “geo-strategic level,” said the French presidents.
“Mongolia is landlocked between Russia and China, but also a country with a liberal model of government, holding elections, where change has occurred and also looking to diversify its partnerships to be more robust and capable of acting in better ones.” Conditions with its major Russian and Chinese neighbors,” explain the President’s relatives.
In Ulaanbaatar, Emmanuel Macron attended a state dinner at the Genghis Khan Museum, named after the great Mongolian conqueror of the 13th century, after his interview with his counterpart in a yurt at the Presidential Palace. The institution will lend part of its collection to the History Museum of Nantes in western France for an exhibition planned for October. The French President, who will return to Paris later in the evening, has invited Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to France for a state visit in October.
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