Spain, France and Portugal will meet this Friday IX Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Alicante within the framework of EU-MED9 Advancing the development of the H2Med green hydrogen submarine corridorit was originally christened BarMar, a project that will be submitted to the European Commission (EC) on December 15th.
The meeting, attended by the Head of Government, Pedro Sanchez, french head of state Emmanuel Macronand Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, as well as the President of the EC, Ursula von der LeyenIt will be held in parallel with EU-MED9, which has been postponed since September due to Sánchez’s positive coronavirus.
In the energy field, the meeting will serve to finalize the details of H2Med. A hydro channel to transport green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille (southeast France) and the project that the three countries agreed in October as an alternative to the long-awaited MidCat trans-Pyrenean project, which was rejected by the French Administration.
Target 2030
However, despite resources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the technical and financial details of the project and the deadlines for its start-up are still unknown. They cite 2030 as the most suitable date for implementation.
although at first a construction period of four to five years agreedTrans-European infrastructure processing processes can take between one and two years, to be added to the final approval and final construction of the countries.
Despite the deadlines not being as agile as those offered by MidCat, the Spanish Government’s intention remains, as third vice president Teresa Ribera recently announced. Submit the project to the Commission before 15 December To qualify for European funding.
In particular, Ribera touched upon the possibility of benefiting from the ‘Link the European Tool’ program, which are the funds allocated by the European Union to implement the trans-European energy networks policy.
This program, when it comes to new infrastructures, only finances projects that provide transportation hydrogenFor this reason, the connection that Spain, France and Portugal want to develop will ultimately not be able to transfer natural gas.
The government’s aim is to ensure this. EC finances about 50% of the projectbecause this type of assistance often yields a community contribution of 30-50% of the final cost of infrastructure.
key to europe
Leaving aside the technical details of the project, according to experts, this could enable Spain to position itself as a benchmark and in a privileged position in Europe. take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by renewable hydrogenIn a context marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe appears to be key to improving security of supply.
This infrastructure will also respond to the historical claims of Spain and Portugal. put an end to energy isolation The Iberian Peninsula has historically suffered, plagued by interconnection issues with the rest of its European partners.
It is estimated that H2Med could meet up to 10% of the total renewable hydrogen target set in the ‘RePower EU’ plan presented by Brussels last May, and Sets target of 20 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030.