Madrid (AFP) – Since Russia’s military attack on Ukraine last February, Madrid has revived calls to build a massive gas pipeline between Spain and France called “Med Cat” that would bolster Europe’s efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
What is “Med Cat”?
The 190 km Medi-Catalunya (Med Cat) pipeline, initially launched in 2003, is supposed to pump gas via the Galle-Pyrenees from Austalrich, north of Barcelona, to Barbera in southern France. Its aim was to transport gas from Algeria via Spain to the rest of the European Union. . There are currently only two small gas pipelines connecting Spain and France. But after several years of work, the project was abandoned in 2019 after it was rejected by the energy regulatory authorities in the two countries, in light of its questioning of its environmental impacts and economic feasibility.
What is the point of reviving it?
Since the Russia-Ukraine war in February, the European Union has pledged to stop its dependence on Russian gas, knowing that Moscow currently supplies about 40 percent of the bloc’s gas needs. A 750 km deep sea pipeline known as “Medgaz” connects gas-rich Algeria to Spain . Spain has six plants to regasify and store LNG transported by sea, which is the largest network in Europe. The gas arriving to Spain by sea and via the pipeline from Algeria can be transferred later to the rest of Europe by “Medcat”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Barcelona on Friday that the Med Cat pipeline was “essential” to reduce the European Union’s dependence on fossil fuels and put an end to Russia’s threats to cut off gas supplies to the bloc.
What are the obstacles?
The MedCat pipeline faces several obstacles, starting with its colossal cost, which was estimated in 2018 at 440 million euros ($460 million). It will also take three to four years to complete. The French ambassador to Spain, Jean-Michel Casa, said in an interview with Barcelona-based newspaper La Vangoadia in March, “Med Cat cannot be treated as a short-term solution.” There are no pipelines linking France to Germany, the country most interested in finding alternatives to Russian gas. “It would be much simpler to bring gas directly to Germany by boat,” says Thierry Bros, an energy expert at the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. “This will, of course, require the construction of gas stations in Germany,” he told AFP, but their cost would not be higher than the cost of building “Med Cat”.
any support?
Despite the controversy over its usefulness, Med Cat enjoys great support, especially in Spain, where authorities are pressing Brussels to declare the project “in the interests of society.” While France has so far been more conservative about it, Madrid indicates that its position is changing. Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera indicated that there is a “new perception of the risks and opportunities” that Med Cat holds, stressing that France “understood” that the pipeline “must” be built. There are also questions about the financing of the project, as Madrid insists that Brussels should bear the cost, not the Spanish taxpayers, since the project will be in the interest of the European Union as a whole. But the European Commission has yet to announce any commitment to fund it. Spain is seeking to make the pipeline compatible with the transport of environmentally friendly hydrogen, hoping that this will increase its attractiveness for Brussels, which prioritizes financing of renewable energy projects.
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