According to preliminary estimates of the project agreed upon by Spain, Portugal, and France, an undersea pipeline to transport green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille will cost roughly 2 billion euros.
It happens at a time when the energy crisis brought on by the conflict in Ukraine has sped up European plans to support renewable energy as a substitute for Russian gas. Spanish and Portuguese leaders will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today in the Spanish city of Alicante to discuss a construction schedule and financing for a new hydrogen pipeline. Spain and Portugal want to become hubs for clean hydrogen production and net energy exporters, which is at odds with France’s plans to produce its own hydrogen using nuclear energy.
The cost of connecting the pipeline, known as H2MED, with connections on land is not included in the price estimate, according to the two sources with knowledge of the situation; the second source, an industry source, added that depending on the underwater route the pipe takes, the cost could increase to around 3 billion euros.
The so-called MidCat pipeline project across the Pyrenees, which had been supported by Spain and Portugal who claimed it might assist relieve immediate pressure on gas supply but opposed by France, was replaced by the undersea pipeline when it was proposed in October.
To satisfy EU funding requirements, the pipeline will exclusively transport hydrogen, however, “improvements” may be made in the future to include some gas, according to a Spanish government source.
According to a source in the Spanish administration and a representative of the Elysee, French President Emmanuel Macron and his counterparts Pedro Sanchez and Antonio Costa plan to submit an application for finance from the European Union for the project as early as next week.
They have therefore requested that their four grid operators “speed up technical research, potential pipeline design, and cost analyses,” according to the industry source.
Spain’s Energy Ministry and its gas grid operator Enagas, Portugal’s grid operator REN, and Spain’s Energy Ministry and its grid operator REN declined to comment. France’s Energy Ministry and its grid operators GRT and Terega also declined to comment on cost projections, and its Energy Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The project’s timetable is yet unknown. It might be finished in four to five years if there are no technical, environmental, or regulatory obstacles, according to the first source with knowledge of the situation.
However, the second industrial source claimed that French officials believed they would be prepared by 2030.
The Iberian Peninsula is where most hydrogen investment in Europe is concentrated. Portugal also intends to develop into a significant producer and exporter of renewable fuel, according to a Dec. 1 statement from the oil company Cepsa.
H2MED’s chances of success are questioned by others, with Faig Abbasov, director of the shipping program at the Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment, calling it “window dressing” to ease political tensions brought on by MidCat.
Abbasov questioned, “Why to develop an undersea pipeline when you already have an overland pipeline?” Spain would benefit more from shipping its exports.
