ALICANTE – Spain, Portugal and France want to complete the project of a subsea pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille for green hydrogen in 2030.
The heads of government of Spain and Portugal, Pedro Sánchez and António Costa, and French President Emmanuel Macron formulated this goal Friday in Alicante, Sánchez told journalists. The EU should contribute to the project’s estimated cost of around €2.5 billion.
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The application for the necessary inclusion of the project in the list of so-called projects of common interest (PCBs) must be submitted in Brussels by 15 December at the latest. From the start, only hydrogen will be transported through the pipe. Moreover, this will be around two million tons per year, according to the Spanish prime minister.
President EC welcomed the agreement
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, attended the meeting together with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. She welcomed the agreement as an important part of the European REPowerEU programme. With this program the EU intends to enable investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and the infrastructure of the Energy Union. The aim is to make the EU climate neutral by 2050, i.e. to stop emitting climate-damaging gases.
Ten million tons of green hydrogen in 2030
In 2030, the EU will produce an estimated 10 million tons of green hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the union will import the same amount, according to von der Leyen. Therefore, transport capacities such as the energy corridor from the Iberian Peninsula are indispensable for this.
Subsea pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille
Spain, Portugal and France had agreed in principle in October to build the subsea pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille. Germany also welcomed this. Previously, the completion of a pipeline, the MidCat, through the Pyrenees from Spain to France had failed due to opposition from Paris. Natural gas should have been pumped through it first and green hydrogen only later.
Ambitions of Spain and Portugal
Spain and Portugal hope to become major producers of green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower, as part of the energy transition and the fight against climate change.
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