The gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, to transport energy between the Iberian Peninsula and France, could take five to seven years to complete and the aim is to be financed with European funds, the Spanish government said today.
According to the Spanish Energy Minister, Teresa Ribera, the aim is to emphasize the European character and the “common interest” and to apply for the submarine connection for the transport of gas and hydrogen to “infrastructure of community interest and that European funding is who will pay for the bulk of the project.
The project, approved and announced on Thursday by Portugal, Spain and France, has a “European and solidarity-based vocation” because it will enable the diversification of energy sources and supplies in the European Union, as well as being sustainable in the long term, said Teresa Ribera today in an interview with Catalunya Radio.
Deadlines for the development and completion of the energy link between Barcelona and Marseille, called BarMar, have not yet been set, but the Spanish minister estimated today that it could take “five, six or seven years”, depending on the start of construction. , which cannot be immediate, as several previous procedures are needed, such as environmental impact assessments or the determination of costs and financing.
In another interview, also today, on the Spanish television Antena 3, Minister Teresa Ribera justified the option for BarMar, replacing the gas pipeline through the Pyrenees (project known as MidCat), which Spain and Portugal defended, concluding, by the Spanish government, “that the best and fastest way was not without France” and that the hydrogen produced in the Iberian Peninsula “reaches the skeleton” of European energy connections.
The deal between Portugal, Spain and France was reached in Brussels on Thursday at a meeting of the leaders of the governments of the three countries.
António Costa, Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron decided to proceed with a “Green Energy Corridor”, by sea, between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) instead of crossing the Pyrenees (MidCat).
The timetable, sources of funding and costs related to the implementation of the BarMar green corridor will be discussed at a new three-way meeting in Alicante, Spain, in December.
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 start the preparatory work to move forward with BarMar and also on the reinforcement of electrical interconnections between Spain and France, “in close consultation 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, namely 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 share of natural gas as a temporary and temporary energy source”.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, believed the agreement would allow “overcoming a historic blockade” on Iberian gas and electricity interconnections.
Source: DN
