Minister Ribera gives this approximate date of entry into operation of the pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille
He explains that in December they will examine an outline with a more exact date and with the cost of the infrastructure
The Spanish government assured this Friday that the draft gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille could come into operation “within four or five years & rdquor;. “There have been some first sketches that Enagás was working on. (…) We had started working on this hypothesis (that of a pipeline connecting Barcelona with Livorno) and the connection with Marseille shortens it. Our calculation is that it would take between four and five years & rdquor ;, explained Teresa Ribera, third vice president, in statements to Spanish media at the Embassy in Paris.
The Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition met this Friday in Paris with the French Minister of Economy, Bruno LeMaire, and the Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher. This meeting took place after the agreement on Thursday between Paris, Madrid and Lisbon to promote a underwater pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, which transports gas and green hydrogen. An announcement that put an end to the pulse of recent months to dust off the MidCat gas pipeline project, finally replaced by the so-called BarMar.
An approximate date
This infrastructure is currently an incipient project. Ribera acknowledged that the term “four or five years & rdquor; it is approximate. It will also depend on the work of companies in Portugal and France, which aims rather to 2030 as a possible date of entry into operation. “We know Enagás’ capacity. But also we need the collaboration of French and Portuguese actors& rdquor ;, he indicated.
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The minister explained that they don’t know the cost of the new infrastructure, although he hinted that it will be higher for the Spanish coffers than the 400 million for the MidCat works in Iberian territory. He specified, however, that with the other countries involved they proposed to present to early december a blueprint with more details. “It will be an outline that allows us to answer what is the estimate of the cost and the entry into operation & rdquor ;, declared Ribera, who insisted that it is a pipeline “to transport green hydrogen, although it can also transport gas & rdquor ;.
Furthermore, he explained that it was Spain the one that proposed Marseille to France as a destination. A possibility that was worked on when a possible gas pipeline (or hydro pipeline) with Livorno was being considered, an option raised in August as an alternative to MidCat. And he explained that the BarMar will have three stages: “the underwater part that goes from Barcelona to Marseille, the part that will connect Marseille with the future network of hydroducts and a possible third that would connect it with Germany, although this must be seen & rdquor ;.