EU members split over proposed Pyrenees pipeline

Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) EU members France, Germany, Portugal and Spain are split over the proposed Pyrenees natural gas pipeline MidCat.

France is against the planned pipeline, stressing that the project would take too long to complete to ease the energy crisis, according to Reuters reporting on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron previously pointed out that the project goes against the country’s plan to move away from fossil fuels.

Speaking at a press conference last week, he stressed “I do not understand why we would jump around like Pyrenees goats on this topic.”

The proposed pipeline would be the third connection between Spain and France, with advocates stressing that the project would help the EU to wean itself off Russian gas.

Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the proposed pipeline as “dramatically missing” from EU infrastructure. He called on Macron in a video call last week to support the project.

Macron pointed out after the call that existing pipelines between Spain and France have spare capacity.

After critics accused Macron of failing to demonstrate EU “energy solidarity,” he pointed out that the country is planning to reactivate a disused pipeline to Germany to supply it with gas if required. He stressed that the move shows France’s commitment to solidarity.

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Portugal, Spain and France have significant gas import capacity, with a French government source stressing that the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals “can process gas for the whole of Europe.”

A source from the French Ministry of Energy Transition pointed out that the proposed pipeline could be completed by the end of the decade and stressed “by that point, the priority will be de-carbonising the economy, not using more gas… so we’re somewhat puzzled.”

Germany’s main interest in the proposed pipeline is in the long term, in transport of green hydrogen from the south. According to German and Spanish officials, the pipeline could be repurposed to carry hydrogen.

On the other hand, a senior Spanish official pointed out that hydrogen leaks more easily, can make metal brittle and is significantly more difficult to store and transport than natural gas.