Spain, France and Portugal are set to convene this Friday for the IX Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Alicante, as part of the EU-MED9 initiative. The goal is to advance the development of the H2Med green hydrogen corridor, a project originally named BarMar, which will be submitted to the European Commission on December 15.
The gathering will bring together Iberian and French leadership, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, French President Emmanuel Macron, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participating. The summit runs parallel with EU-MED9, a program that had been postponed in September due to Sánchez testing positive for COVID-19.
In energy terms, the meeting aims to finalize the practical details of H2Med. The plan envisions a green hydrogen transport channel linking Barcelona with Marseille in southeast France, forming a corridor that the three governments agreed upon in October as an alternative to the long-discussed MidCat trans-Pyrenean project, which the French administration did not approve.
Target 2030
Despite support from Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the technical and financial specifics and the start-up timeline remain uncertain. A 2030 timeframe is commonly cited as the most feasible date for implementation.
While initial planning suggested a construction period of four to five years, the process for trans-European infrastructure can take one to two additional years, before final approval and construction by the participating states begins.
Even if the schedule is not as rapid as the MidCat timeline, the Spanish government’s objective remains clear. As third vice president Teresa Ribera recently stated, the aim is to submit the project to the European Commission by December 15 to qualify for EU funding.
Ribera highlighted the possibility of leveraging the EU’s “Linking Europe” tool, which channels funds into trans-European energy networks. Regarding new infrastructure, this program prioritizes projects that carry hydrogen transport, meaning the envisioned Spain–France–Portugal link will ultimately focus on hydrogen rather than natural gas.
The government anticipates that the EC could finance about half of the project, a level of support that aligns with typical community contributions of 30–50% of the final infrastructure cost. [Source: EU policy brief, regional energy strategy report]
Key to Europe
Beyond the technical aspects, experts say the H2Med plan could position Spain as a regional benchmark and place it in a favorable European position. The initiative would allow the country to capitalize on the opportunities tied to renewable hydrogen, particularly in a European environment shaped by energy security concerns following recent geopolitical events.
The project also addresses longstanding energy-isolation concerns of the Iberian Peninsula, which has historically faced grid interconnection challenges with the rest of Europe.
Estimates suggest H2Med could meet up to 10% of the total renewable hydrogen targets within the RePowerEU framework announced by Brussels last spring, with a broader aim of achieving 20 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030. [Policy projection document, energy transition studies]