The Government of France questions again the usefulness of the MidCat gas pipeline

Sep. 3 () –

The Minister of Finance of France, Bruno Le Maire, has questioned this Saturday the usefulness of the MidCat project, the gas pipeline to carry gas from the Iberian Peninsula to the rest of Europe, despite the fact that this week he had been willing to “examine” the proposal of Spain and Germany.

“I’m not sure that a new pipeline is going to help us get through next winter,” Le Maire said during an economic forum in the Italian town of Cernobbio, according to statements collected by the economic daily ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’.

The French minister has recognized the need to seek new markets for fossil fuels outside of Russia in the short term and without “overheating” the economies or putting too much pressure on families, mainly in terms of prices.

In the long term, he believes that “electricity and hydrogen are more promising than a new gas transmission line”, alluding to the possible trans-Pyrenean connection. Likewise, he has pointed out that investing in a gas pipeline could generate “negative opinions” among those who defend concentrating financing on projects that favor the transition towards cleaner energies.

The MidCat project has been paralyzed for years due to its high costs and the hitherto low price of the Russian supply. There are still 226 kilometers of pipes to be built from the Catalan town of Hostalric to the French town of Barbaira, and Spain asks the EU to cover the costs.

This week, at the end of a joint meeting, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, again advocated for the project.