All the quarrels between France and Germany on the MidCat pipeline
In the EU, countries compact on the need to keep a hard line with Putin quarrel among themselves over the gas pipeline that should connect Spain to Northern Europe
France, Germany, Spain and Portugal: countries affiliated with the European Union but fatally divided on the project of a gas pipeline that should connect the Iberian peninsula to Northern Europe and which Paris refuses to complete.
THE MIDCAT PIPELINE
It is the Politico newspaper that summarizes the essential details of a story that sees Berlin, Madrid and Lisbon increasingly frustrated by the resistance of French President Emmanuel Macron in completing the MidCat pipeline, whose goal is to transport across the Pyrenees to France and then gas from North Africa and eight LNG terminals in Spain and Portugal in Germany.
In the long term, the Iberian countries aim to use the pipeline to bring their green hydrogen production to the market.
FRENCH RESISTANCES AND EU SKEPTICISM
But France no longer hides its reluctance to revive a project that was abandoned in 2019. Macron recently stated that the existing gas pipelines linking France and Spain are used at only 55% of their capacity, concluding that there would be none. no need for new connections.
The European Commission is also skeptical: a short time ago, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton argued that "it is not clear whether such a project would make economic sense".
THE URGENCY OF GERMANY, PORTUGAL AND SPAIN
But Germany, Portugal and Spain argue that due to Russia's energy blackmail, the calculations have changed drastically.
As stated by Anton Hofreiter , who is a member of parliament of the German Greens and chairman of the European Affairs Commission of the Bundestag, "there is strong pressure to end the MidCat because, if France agrees to finish the works on its side, the pipeline could become operational. in 8 or 9 months, which means that we would be of help already next year… It is important that things move quickly now ”.
The issue was dealt with in a recent phone call between Macron and the German Chancellor Scholz , in which the head of the Elysée reiterated his opposition for both economic and environmental reasons.
THE PLANS FOR GREEN HYDROGEN
The French attitude is irritating Berlin, Madrid and Lisbon by boycotting their long-term plans: in perspective, it is argued, the pipeline would be used to transport green hydrogen, supporting the EU's plans to achieve climate neutrality by the middle of this century. Spain and Portugal point out that their abundant wind and solar energy is ideal for producing clean energy at a competitive price.
THE ALTERNATIVE PLANS OF FRANCE
But France wants to enforce its alternative energy plans. In the short term, instead of being a mere transit country for gas coming from the South, Paris aims to sell gas from its four LNG terminals to Germany. In the long term, however, France hopes to sell hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.
THE IDEA OF A SUBMARINE PIPELINE FROM BARCELONA TO LIVORNO
That is why, given this tenacious opposition, the three countries are studying alternative solutions. In a meeting in August, Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez discussed the project for a submarine gas pipeline connecting Barcelona to Livorno, from where both gas and green hydrogen could flow north. The Spanish Ministry of Energy has made it known that such a project is currently being studied.
But in Rome the idea of a Mediterranean pipeline met with skepticism. The Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani highlighted how the stretch of sea affected by the project is characterized by depths greater than one kilometer. For Cingolani, there are no great precedents of subsea pipelines designed for these depths.
What makes the prospects for an underwater pipeline more uncertain is also the concrete possibility that, after today's elections, a right-wing government potentially close to Russia will be born in Rome.
THE ALTERNATIVE OF A SUBMARINE PIPELINE FROM SPAIN TO BELGIUM
All of this is prompting Berlin to consider yet another plan: an undersea pipeline from Northern Spain to Belgium. Although the route would be very long, the waters do not reach the depths of the northern Mediterranean. In Germany, the costs of building a long-distance subsea pipeline are believed to be manageable. But the governments of Spain and Belgium point out that such a plan has not yet been officially considered and express doubts about its feasibility.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/tutti-gli-scazzi-tra-francia-e-germania-sul-gasdotto-midcat/ on Sun, 25 Sep 2022 07:08:27 +0000.