Teresa Ribera defends that the BarMar anticipates "a strategic decision" of hydrogen networks

He says that the Government will have “a first project” of the gas pipeline at the beginning of December

BARCELONA, Oct. 23 () –

The Third Vice President and Minister for the Government’s Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has defended that the agreement to build an underwater connection for green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille, the BarMar gas pipeline, anticipates “a strategic decision on the hydrogen networks , which will be a reality in fifteen years”.

In an interview in the newspaper ‘La Vanguardia’ collected by Europa Press this Sunday, she has vindicated the Europeanist spirit of the pact, which according to her is solid and goes beyond domestic interest: “We anticipate. We begin to build the future and intertwine Europe , that is, we build more Europe”.

Asked about the deadlines, he replied that “after some initial talks with Enagás this last week” it could be carried out in a period of between four and five years, and he said that Spain has the advantage of having already built other underwater pipelines, referring to to the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline through the Strait of Gibraltar and the Medgaz gas pipeline through the Alboran Sea.

As for the costs of the project, Ribera has said that he prefers to be cautious with this matter and wait for the results of the technical studies.

He explained that a second stage of design and specification of the infrastructure is now beginning, for which the Government has already contacted “carriers, the industry and the regulators in order to have a first project ready at the beginning of December.”

“SOLIDARITY” BEFORE THE WAR IN UKRAINE

He stressed that the project responds to a complicated period during which the Government “believed that it was important to respond to the request for solidarity from Germany and other European countries” in the face of the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

He has said that the Government’s proposal initially encountered many limitations, above all due to the complicated energy situation in which France finds itself, that “a scheme like the one proposed by Spain was not a priority” but that it finally accepted the alternative proposal consisting of the Marseille connection.

When asked if the Brussels pact rules out the Italian proposal to build a gas pipeline between Barcelona and Livorno, he replied: “It doesn’t make much sense to do another underwater pipeline. The connection with Marseille is shorter and cheaper”.