Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) France, Portugal and Spain have agreed on Thursday to build a natural gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseilles.
The pipeline will be built instead of the proposed expansion of existing pipelines between Spain and France which Paris opposed, according to Reuters reporting on Thursday.
While Spain and Portugal were in favour of the expansion, the new agreement resolves their standoff with France.
António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, noted that the planned pipeline will initially be used to transport a “limited amount” of natural gas, but will largely be used to pipe green hydrogen.
“It’s good news, one of Europe’s oldest blockades has been overcome,” he concluded.
Costa’s Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez added that the pipeline is “a response to calls for solidarity from our European partners in the face of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s blackmail.”
French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of Europe remaining united.
France and Spain also agreed to push forward an electricity interconnection between the countries under the Bay of Biscay as well as discuss other potential connections.
The three leaders agreed to discuss the planned gas pipeline project in more detail in Alicante on 9 December to decide on financing and a rough construction timeline.
Spain has the largest number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals among EU member states, which is becoming increasingly important as Europe moves away from Russian gas imported via pipelines.
Due to a relatively warm autumn and full gas storages coupled with lack of pipeline connections with Central Europe, price of natural gas on the Iberian Peninsula has reached its lowest point in the last six months.
Green hydrogen plans
According to Wood Mackenzie consultancy, Spain was second only to the US with regard to announced investment in green hydrogen in Q1 this year.
Spanish power utility Iberdrola is building the largest green hydrogen plant in Europe, while Cepsa oil and gas company announced plans to invest between 7 and 8 billion euro by 2030 in its transition towards environmentally friendly energy sources.
Cepsa CEO Maarten Wetselaar noted that “Spain, and Cepsa, can become central players in the future EU hydrogen market, delivering energy transition and energy security at the same time.”
