Spain has what Germany is sorely lacking at the moment: liquid gas terminals and the associated storage facilities. And six of them, which corresponds to about 25 percent of the total European capacities in this area. In addition, natural gas from Algeria in North Africa flows through two pipelines into the well-developed Spanish network. It’s just a pity that there are hardly any pipelines to the north and Spain together with Portugal is like an island when it comes to energy.
Under the impact of the war in Ukraine, that is now set to change as soon as possible, namely through the construction of new pipelines. Natural gas would still flow through them for the next ten to fifteen years, but then green hydrogen would flow in the long term. “These gas pipelines are already being advertised as hydrogen pipelines, because fossil fuel infrastructure can hardly be enforced anymore,” says energy expert Ángel Saz from the Esade think tank in Madrid. “It’s not a lie that in the long term these will be lines for hydrogen,” he adds. Green hydrogen would be particularly important for Germany’s energy-intensive industries.
The main driver of the conversion is the EU Commission. In mid-May, she presented her plan to transform the European energy system, the so-called “REPowerEU” plan. The aim is to reduce energy consumption, accelerate the expansion of renewable energies and develop new sources of gas supplies in order to become independent of Russian gas. With the last two points, Spain expects a good chance. Both in the transport of natural gas northbound and in the long term in the production and transmission of green hydrogen, which is produced using electricity from renewable sources such as wind or sun.
“If there are new pipelines, then only hydrogen pipelines,” says a representative of the gas industry. He hardly likes to say the Spanish word for gas pipelines, “Gasoducto”, anymore. In addition, the existing gas pipelines could be switched to hydrogen “without much effort”. The spokesman would rather not have his name or that of his large company mentioned.Everything is in flux, nothing is set in stone and political decisions and a lot of money are at stake, he justifies his caution.
Because the Commission wants to mobilize up to 300 billion euros as part of “REPowerEU”. Of this, 72 billion euros are earmarked for grants and 225 billion euros for loans. A part, up to 10 billion euros, is to be invested in the financing of missing gas and liquid gas connections, including from Spain to the north. Spain’s head of government, Pedro Sánchez, has just reiterated that the expansion must be financed by Brussels because the pipelines are intended to bail out northern Europeans, especially Germany.
So far there are only two smaller pipelines across the Pyrenees to France. Together they have an annual capacity of just seven billion cubic meters. To put this in context: until the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU imported around 150 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia every year.
Two projects are discussed. On the one hand, this involves the revival of the Midcat project, which was canceled in 2017, a natural gas pipeline from Barcelona via the Pyrenees to Barbairan in southern France. On the Spanish side, the tube up to Hostalric, not far from the border, was then completed. “This MidCat was unprofitable at the time and was terminated. Today, however, security of supply is the priority and therefore the construction of the pipeline would have to be financed by Europe,” the environment ministry replied to a request from the German Press Agency.
Germany is also campaigning for the further construction of the MidCat gas pipeline. The German ambassador in Madrid, Wolfgang Dold, answered a question from the newspaper “La Vanguardia” at the end of March as to whether Germany supported this project: “Yes, absolutely.” Germany is in talks with Spain and France about it.
The second pipeline would run from Barcelona through the Mediterranean Sea to the port city of Livorno in the Italian region of Tuscany. According to energy experts, this project is still in a very early phase. However, the good gas connections from Italy to the north made this line interesting. It would also circumvent the blockade by France, which itself isn’t all that interested in gas because of its focus on nuclear energy, Saz says.
But some patience is needed. In the best-case scenario, the construction of the two pipelines will take two to three years, say experts. You have to go through the approval process first. And there could still be significant opposition from environmentalists in Spain and France. “I think there will be a lot of resistance,” says Saz. But maybe people will be convinced that hydrogen lines are not only good for the climate, but also bad for Russian President Vladimir Putin because they make democracies independent of such dictatorships.
The state cuts taxes, but fuel prices remain high. The suspicion: The oil multinationals put money in their own pockets. Economics Minister Robert Habeck now wants to tighten antitrust law. Previously, calls for a tougher crackdown had been growing louder.
On Sunday evening, a 36-year-old drove his car into a group of cyclists. A 71-year-old was fatally injured. Before that, the man who fled is said to have killed his father in Rhineland-Palatinate. The police were able to arrest him and are now investigating the background to the crime.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier advocates the introduction of compulsory service in the social sector or in the Bundeswehr for all young women and men.
