The gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, for the transport of energy between the Iberian Peninsula and France, could take between five and seven years to complete and the objective is to be financed with European funds, the Spanish Government said this Friday.
According to the Spanish Minister of Energy, Teresa Ribera, the intention is to underline the European character and the “common interest” and request the submarine connection for the transport of gas and hydrogen to “infrastructures of community interest and that there is European financing to pay the highest part of the project.
The project, agreed and announced this Thursday by Portugal, Spain and France, has a “European and supportive vocation” because it will allow the diversification of energy sources and supply in the European Union and, in addition, it will be sustainable in the long term, said Teresa Ribera , in an interview this Friday with Catalunya Radio.
The deadlines for the development and completion of the energy link between Barcelona and Marseille, called BarMar, have not yet been defined, but the Spanish minister estimated today that it could take “five, six or seven years” to complete, depending on how construction begins, which It cannot be immediate, since several previous procedures are required, such as environmental impact studies or the definition of costs and financing.
In another interview, also today, on Spanish television Antena 3, Minister Teresa Ribera justified the option for BarMar, replacing the gas pipeline through the Pyrenees (a project known as MidCat), which Spain and Portugal defended, with the conclusion, by part of the Spanish Government, “that the best and fastest way was not to do without France” and that the hydrogen produced in the Iberian Peninsula “reaches the skeleton” of European energy connections.
The agreement between Portugal, Spain and France was reached this Thursday, in Brussels, during a meeting of the leaders of the governments of the three countries.
António Costa, Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron decided to advance with a “Green Energy Corridor”, by sea, between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) instead of crossing the Pyrenees (MidCat).
The schedule, funding sources and costs related to the implementation of the BarMar green corridor will be discussed at a new tripartite meeting in December in Alicante, Spain.
According to the agreed text, to which Lusa had access, the energy ministers of the three countries – who were also present at the meeting – will immediately begin the preparatory work to advance with BarMar and also in the reinforcement of the electrical interconnections between Spain. and France, “in close collaboration with the European Commission”.
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.”
The President of the Government, António Costa, considered that the agreement allows “overcoming a historical blockade” in the Iberian gas and electricity interconnections.
Source: TSF
