The European Commission on Monday welcomed the agreement between Portugal, Spain and France to strengthen interconnections in the Iberian Peninsula through a new maritime gas pipeline also suitable for ‘green’ hydrogen, pending details on possible European financing.
“We welcome this political agreement between France and Spain and Portugal on the BarMar project and in principle we are available to support projects that meet the objectives of the [pacote energético] REPowerEU”, responded the spokesman for the European Commission in the field of Energy.
“However, we cannot fund fossil fuel projects” because “they do not qualify for the list of projects of common interest, but hydrogen projects do qualify for such a list”, said Tim McPhie, who asked about this political agreement at the daily press conference of the community council in Brussels.
“The Commission is now waiting for the details of this project as it is still just an agreement in principle announced between the three Member States who are now working on the technical details,” he added.
Last Thursday, in Brussels, the governments of Portugal, France and Spain reached an agreement to speed up interconnections in the Iberian Peninsula, abandoning the existing gas-only project for another project providing a maritime gas pipeline. for, in addition to in a first phase to transport this fossil fuel, if it is going to be used for ‘green’ hydrogen in the future.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, has already admitted that he hopes that this new project can be fully financed with European funds, through the Interconnecting Europe Mechanism.
To this end, it should be seen as a project of common interest, a classification given to infrastructure initiatives for EU energy systems, such as interconnectors, allowing countries to benefit from accelerated permitting and financing procedures.
In concrete terms, the Connecting Europe Facility has a total budget of €5.8 billion for the energy sector in the EU period 2021-2027, aimed at supporting, for example, cross-border projects for renewable energy (such as ‘green’ hydrogen).
In the previous financial framework 2014-2020, €4.7 billion was set aside for electricity projects, smart grids and natural gas infrastructure, with the aim of better connecting energy networks and strengthening the internal energy market in Europe.
Tim McPhie said the next list of projects of common interest “will be proposed in November 2023”, in an “exercise continuing with regional groups and operators to propose candidate projects”, after which Brussels will comment on funding. .
On Thursday, António Costa, Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron then decided to proceed with a “Green Energy Corridor”, by sea, between Barcelona and Marseille (BarMar) instead 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).
The timetable, sources of funding and costs associated with the implementation of the Green Corridor will be discussed at a new three-way meeting in Alicante, Spain, in December.
The countries are expected to start preparatory work in consultation with the European Commission.
The idea is that these new infrastructures will enable the distribution of ‘green’ hydrogen and that they will be technically adapted to transport other renewable gases, and that they will initially be intended for a limited part of the natural gas as temporary and temporary energy source.
Source: DN
