AlwaysFree: Spain To Study Electric Connection With France Alongside Hydrogen Pipeline

According to Reuters article published on January 19, 2023, Spain and France have agreed to explore the possibility of laying an electrical connection alongside a future underwater pipeline carrying green hydrogen between the countries, Spain's Energy Minister Teresa Ribera told Reuters on Thursday.

The Spanish government, which has criticised the country's energy isolation from other parts of Europe, argues that improving connections with France will help enhance Europe's energy security and facilitate achieving its climate goals.

In December, Spain said the so-called BarMar corridor between the port cities of Barcelona and Marseille is expected to cost about 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion), have a capacity of 2 million tonnes of hydrogen a year and be ready by the end of the decade.

Ribera said on Thursday that the pipeline project was "advancing very well".

"We have agreed to study the possibility of using the same path and the same public work for some of the electric interconnections we have pending (with France)," Ribera added after a bilateral summit in Barcelona, where she met with her French counterpart.

Both Spain and France have applied for European Union funding for the project.

Ribera said she believes the electric interconnection is feasible but while it would still link Barcelona and Marseille, its exact path would need to be studied.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and France's President Emmanuel Macron, who led the summit, have nurtured a close relationship over the years.

However, they were briefly at odds last year regarding a short-lived gas pipeline project across the Pyrenees aimed at easing Europe's energy crisis.

It was backed by Spain but rejected by France, which argued that two existing pipelines were being under-utilised.

The two countries, along with Portugal, then agreed to build a new green hydrogen corridor, dubbed H2MED, as an alternative solution.

($1 = 0.9258 euros)

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