German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised this Friday the agreement reached between the leaders of Portugal, Spain and France for a “Green Energy Corridor” for energy interconnections between the three countries.
“It is a great advance that there is a gas pipeline that connects France from the Iberian Peninsula,” said Scholz, at the end of a summit of heads of government and state of the European Union (EU), in Brussels.
The German leader said he was “very satisfied” to have achieved, “after many years” of talks, “a good result.”
António Costa, Pedro Sanchéz and Emmanuel Macron announced this Thursday the commitment to a connection by sea between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) instead of crossing the Pyrenees.
“There is a gas pipeline that goes from Portugal and Spain to France and then the connection with the center of Europe will be possible. I am very happy”, said Olaf Scholz, who had given his explicit support to the project.
The calendar, the sources of financing and the costs related to the implementation of the BarMar green corridor will be discussed in a new trilogue meeting, scheduled for December 9 in Alicante (Spain).
According to the text agreed between the three countries, to which Lusa had access, meanwhile, the respective Ministers of Energy – who were also present at the meeting – will immediately begin the preparatory work to advance with BarMar and also on the strengthening of interconnections between Spain and France, “in close collaboration with the European Commission”.
The maritime gas pipeline was chosen because it is “the most direct and efficient option to connect the Iberian Peninsula”, mainly transporting hydrogen.
The two Iberian prime ministers and the French president also agreed on the need to “complete future renewable gas interconnections between Portugal and Spain, specifically the connection between Celorico da Beira and Zamora (CelZa)”.
The infrastructure that will be created for the distribution of hydrogen “must be technically adapted to transport other renewable gases, as well as a limited proportion of natural gas as a temporary and transitory energy source.”
In this sense, the Iberian Midcat project was abandoned.
Source: TSF
