Spain guaranteed this Friday its commitment to the German proposal for a gas pipeline between the Iberian Peninsula, from Portugal, and the rest of Europe and assured that in less than a year a connection in the Pyrenees could be ready if France wants it.
The interconnection through the Catalan Pyrenees could be operational in eight or nine months on the southern side of the border. For this reason, it is essential to go hand in hand with France”, said this Friday the Minister of Energy of the Spanish Government, Teresa Ribera.
The minister has indicated that “the intention” of the Government of Spain in relation to this gas pipeline planned for the Pyrenees was, “From the very beginning, it was financed as a European project”that would have to be worked on “simultaneously” with France.
It doesn’t make much sense for us to run a lot and on the French side it becomes a dead end because there is no way to get the gas out,” said Teresa Ribera, in an interview on Spanish Public Television (RTVE).
The minister added that this type of infrastructure must be prepared for a useful life of 30 to 50 years and be capable of transporting hydrogen in the future.
The new Pyrenees gas pipeline project, “at a given moment, declined because it was not economically viable in a context where Russian gas was much cheaper than liquefied gas”, explained the minister.
Now, Spain has returned to work on this issue with France, with the aim of “accelerating a first interconnection with less complexity”, he added.
In addition, and thinking more of the immediate, Spain proposed to increase the capacity of two smaller gas pipelines that already exist in the Basque Country, also on the border with France, using new compressors.
In this case, “it would be a matter of a few months, two or three”the minister said.
Another Spanish proposal is to “organize a maritime bridge” using large oil tankers that manage to reach Barcelona and from there take the liquefied gas to Italy in smaller ships.
Regarding the proposal of the leader of the German Government, Olaf Scholz, for the pan-European gas pipeline, Teresa Ribera considered that “the greatest advantage of these declarations” on Thursday is that emphasize that “interconnections in the European Union are not a bilateral issue”.
Spain, he said, has already transferred to the German Government “the possibility that Germany itself be invited to participate in the working group that aims to improve interconnections with France.”
The minister recalled that Spain and Portugal have so far been isolated from the rest of the European Union in this matter.
There is a skeleton of pipelines that connect the countries of the European Union, especially the center and the east, and yet in the extreme west we were isolated. The problem is the Pyrenees, how they cross and how they connect with France”, he said.
Another Spanish minister, Reyes Maroto, who is in charge of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, said today that Spain will commit to improving European regasification and that the countries most dependent on Russian gas can count “on the solidarity of the countries that are better prepared”, like Portugal and Spain.
In an interview on Antena 3 television, Reyes Maroto, asked about the German proposal, referred to the reaction of the President of the Portuguese Government, António Costa, who said that Germany could trust 100% in Portugal for the construction of the pan-European gas pipeline.
We will put all our efforts into improving regasification and that the countries most affected by a future gas cut in Russia can count on the solidarity of those that are better prepared, such as Spain and Portugal”, Minister Reyes added. Maroto.
Spain and Portugal have asked the European Union (EU) to speed up the increase in interconnections for gas transport between the Iberian Peninsula and other European countries.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has repeated in recent weeks that Spain has “the largest regasification infrastructure” in the European Union (30% of the total), which it can make “available” to European partners, becoming “a liquefied natural gas ‘hub'” and thus being an alternative to Russian gas “on which many European countries depend”.
Russia is the country of origin of 45% of the gas imported by the EU as a whole, but in the case of Portugal and Spain it represents less than 10%.
The Iberian Peninsula has few interconnections with the rest of Europe and has created its own capacities, with significant investments in recent years in this area.
According to the President of the Spanish Government, 20% of the gas imports that Spain receives in its infrastructures are already destined for other European countries, but more interconnections are needed to increase this percentage.
Source: Observadora
