Gas: Spain criticizes France’s opposition to the MidCat . gas pipeline project

Faced with declining Russian gas shipments, and planned maintenance work at Nord Stream, Europeans are trying to find alternatives.

Spain and Portugal have great potential forimport gas German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in August again proposed the MidCat option to improve interconnection between Europe’s gas networks.

France opposes this, citing in particular the cost of the project, and favors the installation of new LNG terminals.

The Trans-Pyrenees gas pipeline project, launched in 2013, to connect the northern city of Barcelona with Barbaira, has begun in Aude, with the aim of distributing Algerian gas in particular.

It was suspended in 2019, as it was deemed too expensive and harmful to the environment.

“We have to prepare for next winter and, in this context, be able to complete an interconnection that did not make economic sense (in 2019) … but may now be decisive to ensure this lost supply. Teresa Ribera told local radio “Northern Europe” .

“The question is: Is this in the interest of France or in the interest of Central and Northern Europe?” , believing that the gas pipeline could operate in the winter of 2023.

Olaf Schultz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday called for the construction of a new gas pipeline from the Iberian Peninsula, but without criticizing Paris.

France believes that installing new LNG terminals in Northern and Eastern Europe, particularly in Germany, would be a faster and cheaper alternative to building a new gas pipeline.

However, Bruno Le Maire did not rule out considering such a possibility. “Spain and Germany are very close partners of France. So when they make a proposal, we will examine it,” he told reporters on Tuesday on the sidelines of his speech at the Entrepreneurs’ Meeting in France (Larve, formerly a university in France). Medef).