The three leaders will talk about the issue of energy interconnections – Paris remains opposed to the Spanish plan for the new gas pipeline MidCat
The president of France Emmanuel Macron he will meet the prime ministers of Spain tomorrow morning in Brussels Pedro Sanchez and Portugal Antonio Costa to discuss the issues of energy interconnections, before the European summit, the Élysée announced today.
Paris remains opposed to Spain’s plan for a new natural gas pipeline (MidCat) between France and Spain but is ready to discuss electricity interconnections and a “hydrogen strategy”, the Elysée explained.
In relation to him MidCat“our position has not changed, this plan does not show economic and environmental viability,” said the French presidency.
“On the contrary, we want to take into account the need to open up the Iberian Peninsula and find with our partners medium and long-term solutions,” he noted.
“We need to be pragmatic and strategic, to look beyond the MidCat issue, the electrical interconnection issues and perhaps the longer-term issues, including a European hydrogen strategy,” an adviser to the president underlined.
“This discussion is not intended to answer the very short-term challenges and those of logistics security for this winter or next,” it also underlines Elisewith the war in Ukraine weighing heavily on hydrocarbon prices and potentially leading to shortages as the EU is determined to reduce its reliance on Russian gas and oil.
The outlook for the Midcat was five to six years. Here the forecasts have a time horizon of 2030″, states the Elysee.
The MidCat pipeline, supported by Madrid but also the Berlinwhich sees it as a way to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas, could allow Spain, which has 30% of Europe’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification capacity, to export gas to the rest of Europe.
That plan — which was abandoned in 2019 due to its environmental impact and limited economic interest as judged at the time — could also allow for the longer-term transport of “green hydrogen,” the energy of the future produced thanks to renewable energy sources , whose n Spain he wants to be among the pioneers.
President Macron estimates for his part that the need for such an infrastructure is “not obvious”, stating that the Iberian Peninsula mainly uses today the pipelines that connect it to France to “import” natural gas.
RES-EMP
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