The European Investment Bank (EIB) is in “exploratory contacts” with Portugal, Spain and France regarding the future maritime gas pipeline suitable for “green” hydrogen to strengthen Iberian interconnections, and admits that it could be financed, if it meets the “eligibility criteria”.
The position is taken by EIB Vice President Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who, in an interview with the Lusa agency in Lisbon, indicates that the European Union bank is “clearly available and this project or others are of a similar nature and see if this project can be framed in what the eligibility criteria are, i.e. if it is a transport project that can achieve 100% low carbon gases, especially ‘green’ hydrogen, and if it is a credible project in that dimension”.
“We have an energy financing policy that is very clear and the EIB does not finance […] any technology based on fossil fuels, [mas] the EIB finances all transport corridors, whether for electricity or low-carbon gases, the gases and forms of energy of the future”explains the person in charge.
Despite pointing out that the EIB still does not know “the characteristics of the project”, Ricardo Mourinho Félix emphasizes the importance of this future energy corridor being “usable and ready for transport”. […] ‘green’ hydrogen, even if it could transport a mixture in the very short term”.
“It is technically possible to have combinations of low carbon gases with gases that are still of fossil origin and so in the very short term when there is not yet a supply of ‘green’ hydrogen that will be needed, we can go to this project look, as long as it meets the eligibility criteria of the project,” he sums up.
According to Ricardo Mourinho Félix, “there are already exploratory contacts”, namely with Portugal.
“I have already spoken to some members of the government on this subject and said that we are always available and therefore when they consider that the project is mature enough at the political level, we can start looking at this project and also understand how we can come up with a project that has the necessary characteristics to be financed’ the official shoved at Lusa.
At the end of October, the governments of Portugal, France and Spain reached an agreement in Brussels to speed up interconnections in the Iberian Peninsula, abandoning the existing gas-only project for another project providing for a maritime gas pipeline for, in addition to an initial idea to transport this fossil fuel, is intended for ‘green’ hydrogen in the future.
The heads of government and state of these three countries – António Costa, Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron – decided to proceed with a “Green Energy Corridor”, by sea, between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) at the expense of crossing the Pyrenees (MidCat ).
The two Iberian Prime Ministers and the French President also reached an agreement on the need to complete future renewable gas interconnections between Portugal and Spain, namely the connection between Celorico da Beira and Zamora (CelZa).
António Costa has already admitted that he hopes that this new project can be fully financed by European funds, through the Interconnect Europe Mechanism, but for that it must be considered a project of common interest, classification given to infrastructure initiatives for the EU’s energy systems, as interconnectors, allowing countries to benefit from accelerated licensing and financing procedures.
The idea is that the new infrastructures on the Iberian Peninsula will allow the distribution of ‘green’ hydrogen and that they are technically adapted to transport other renewable gases, and will initially be intended for a limited share of natural gas as temporary and temporary energy source.
Ricardo Mourinho Félix, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance, was appointed Vice President of the EIB in October 2020.
The EU bank can co-finance up to 75% of projects not fully covered by PRR
The European Investment Bank (EIB) can co-finance up to 75% of projects covered by Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), but can also advance funds, particularly for energy efficiency, says Ricardo Mourinho Félix.
“Within the projects we finance, we normally finance up to 50% of the project costs eligible for the EIB, that is the rule. [mas] in areas such as energy efficiency, priority and urgent areas, we can often even finance up to 75%,” says the EIB Vice President.
“We can finance all projects that are part of the PRR, co-finance them, that is, share or finance the part that is not covered by PRR funds, so that the projects can be carried out in the same way”adds the responsible.
According to Ricardo Mourinho Félix, the EIB can also “advance funding when PRR payouts are made over time”, allowing “some of that funding to be anticipated”.
At the moment, according to the official, talks are already underway in various areas, such as housing, transport, education, support for companies and health.
“Discussions are being held with the different entities, not necessarily at the political and ministerial level, but with facilitating entities and then at the technical and service level, with the different services. […] We have conversations with the different entities and therefore they are the ones who give us the information we need to understand where we can participate or co-finance projects,” he says in this interview with Lusa.
The EU bank can then, under the PRR, support initiatives in the fields of climate and environment, support for investment and innovation, decarbonisation of energy, support for urban areas and regions, as well as financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Despite emphasizing that this complementarity between the funds of the EU bank and the PRR had always been foreseen, the Vice-President of the institution stressed that the recovery and resilience mechanism, which entered into force in February 2021 to mitigate the economic and social impact of the covid-19 pandemic, “it was not created to respond to the energy crisis and the food and inflation crisis”.
“It is clear that with the crisis that resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, problems that were already a priority have arisen here and have become urgent”he adds.
That’s why it’s when “governments implement subsidies [do PRR] who arrive at times when they understand that the money may not be enough [e é aí que] contacts are made to complement,” added Ricardo Mourinho Félix.
According to the person in charge, this is one of the ways to adapt the PRR projects to the “rise in prices”, with the alternative of “rethinking project costs”, in an analysis that “is eminently political and therefore led by the government “.
As a financial institution supporting projects that contribute to the EU’s objectives, the EIB raises money on the capital markets and lends it on favorable terms.
In terms of the PRR, Portugal is currently the sixth country in the European Union with the most funding received from the European Commission, around €5.14 billion (€4.07 billion in grants and €1.07 billion in loans), and it is fourth with the highest execution at a rate of 17%.
The Portuguese PRR has a total allocation of €16.6 billion, €13.9 billion in grants and €2.7 billion in loans.
Source: DN
