As crisis bites, Spain pushes to become EU energy hub
With Europe facing a major energy crisis, Spain wants to become the new gateway for gas through an ambitious trans-Pyrenees pipeline and is hoping supply-starved Germany will pressure a reluctant France.
Madrid has long been hoping for the revival of plans to build a pipeline
connecting the Iberian Peninsula via France to central Europe, which was
abandoned in 2019 over regulatory and funding issues.
But Russia's war on Ukraine and its reduction of gas deliveries to Europe
has revived interest in the project, notably from Germany, with Chancellor
Olaf Scholz saying such a pipeline could make "a massive contribution" to
easing the supply crisis.
He has invited Spain's Pedro Sánchez for talks on Tuesday with energy
likely to be a key issue.
Beyond the gas crisis, Spain is hoping that improving its connectivity with
the rest of Europe will open the way for it to become the European Union's new hub for green hydrogen - a key energy source of the future.
And for that, a pipeline across the Pyrenees would be crucial.
France obstacles
In 2013, work began on the so-called MidCat project, a pipeline linking
Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia to the south of France through the
Pyrenees, aimed at connecting Spain and Portugal to central Europe's gas
network.
Six years later it was dropped by regulators in France and Spain over its
environmental impact and lack of economic viability.
And despite the current energy crisis, France has been decidedly unenthusiastic about reviving the project.
But that has done little to cool the ardour of the Spanish premier, who is
determined it will go ahead - even if it means resorting to "plan B":
building an underwater connection to Italy, he said in Bogota last week.
Ecology Minister Teresa Ribera told Antena 3 television last week the
Italian alternative was being studied, but admitted it would be best to go for
"the easiest option... across the Pyrenees", saying such a pipeline "could be
operational by late 2023 or early 2024".
"It's not a bilateral issue between Spain and France," added Ribera in an
interview published Monday in Spanish daily El Mundo.
"It's about the European project. I wonder where is France's European
ideal."
Germany is already onboard.
"I have been very active in talks with... the French president and the president of the European Commission in advocating that we take on such a
project," Scholz said on August 11th.
It could make "a massive contribution" to easing the supply crisis, he
added.
Spain has six liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals for converting deliveries made by sea into gas, making it the country with the biggest regasification capacity in the EU.
Portugal also has a plant, meaning the Iberian peninsula has the capacity
to become a hub for gas shipped in from the United States while the transition to renewable energies is being completed.
Hydrogen hub
Spain and Portugal want the EU to foot the bill for building such a
connection, estimated at some €440 million.
Such a pipeline could never be ready in time to ease the anticipated
shortages this winter, but could be a key conduit for exporting green
hydrogen, an area in which Spain is already taking a lead.
Green hydrogen is produced by passing an electric current through water to
split it between hydrogen and oxygen, a process called electrolysis. It is
considered green because the electricity comes from renewable energy sources that don't create harmful emissions.
When fossil fuels burn, they emit harmful greenhouse gases, but hydrogen
only emits harmless water vapour.
"Spain is going to become the world's leading hub for the transport of
green hydrogen which is the future of the European economy," Josep Sánchez Llibre, head of Catalonia's Foment del Treball business confederation, told Spain's public television this month.
Visiting Paris last week, Felix Bolanos, a cabinet minister and close ally
of the Spanish premier, said MidCat was "a long-term project".
"The idea is that over the medium- to long-term, it will be able to transport green hydrogen as well as blue hydrogen," he said.
Blue hydrogen is produced by using methane in natural gas.
"Spain must take the lead in making us the great European and global gas
and hydrogen interconnection," said Sánchez Llibre.
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Madrid has long been hoping for the revival of plans to build a pipeline
connecting the Iberian Peninsula via France to central Europe, which was
abandoned in 2019 over regulatory and funding issues.
But Russia's war on Ukraine and its reduction of gas deliveries to Europe
has revived interest in the project, notably from Germany, with Chancellor
Olaf Scholz saying such a pipeline could make "a massive contribution" to
easing the supply crisis.
He has invited Spain's Pedro Sánchez for talks on Tuesday with energy
likely to be a key issue.
Beyond the gas crisis, Spain is hoping that improving its connectivity with
the rest of Europe will open the way for it to become the European Union's new hub for green hydrogen - a key energy source of the future.
And for that, a pipeline across the Pyrenees would be crucial.
France obstacles
In 2013, work began on the so-called MidCat project, a pipeline linking
Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia to the south of France through the
Pyrenees, aimed at connecting Spain and Portugal to central Europe's gas
network.
Six years later it was dropped by regulators in France and Spain over its
environmental impact and lack of economic viability.
And despite the current energy crisis, France has been decidedly unenthusiastic about reviving the project.
But that has done little to cool the ardour of the Spanish premier, who is
determined it will go ahead - even if it means resorting to "plan B":
building an underwater connection to Italy, he said in Bogota last week.
Ecology Minister Teresa Ribera told Antena 3 television last week the
Italian alternative was being studied, but admitted it would be best to go for
"the easiest option... across the Pyrenees", saying such a pipeline "could be
operational by late 2023 or early 2024".
"It's not a bilateral issue between Spain and France," added Ribera in an
interview published Monday in Spanish daily El Mundo.
"It's about the European project. I wonder where is France's European
ideal."
Germany is already onboard.
"I have been very active in talks with... the French president and the president of the European Commission in advocating that we take on such a
project," Scholz said on August 11th.
It could make "a massive contribution" to easing the supply crisis, he
added.
Spain has six liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals for converting deliveries made by sea into gas, making it the country with the biggest regasification capacity in the EU.
Portugal also has a plant, meaning the Iberian peninsula has the capacity
to become a hub for gas shipped in from the United States while the transition to renewable energies is being completed.
Hydrogen hub
Spain and Portugal want the EU to foot the bill for building such a
connection, estimated at some €440 million.
Such a pipeline could never be ready in time to ease the anticipated
shortages this winter, but could be a key conduit for exporting green
hydrogen, an area in which Spain is already taking a lead.
Green hydrogen is produced by passing an electric current through water to
split it between hydrogen and oxygen, a process called electrolysis. It is
considered green because the electricity comes from renewable energy sources that don't create harmful emissions.
When fossil fuels burn, they emit harmful greenhouse gases, but hydrogen
only emits harmless water vapour.
"Spain is going to become the world's leading hub for the transport of
green hydrogen which is the future of the European economy," Josep Sánchez Llibre, head of Catalonia's Foment del Treball business confederation, told Spain's public television this month.
Visiting Paris last week, Felix Bolanos, a cabinet minister and close ally
of the Spanish premier, said MidCat was "a long-term project".
"The idea is that over the medium- to long-term, it will be able to transport green hydrogen as well as blue hydrogen," he said.
Blue hydrogen is produced by using methane in natural gas.
"Spain must take the lead in making us the great European and global gas
and hydrogen interconnection," said Sánchez Llibre.
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