The resumption of the Midcat gas pipeline never aroused the enthusiasm of the third vice president, Teresa Ribera (Madrid, 1969), who was not very supportive of new infrastructure for hydrocarbons. The holder of the Ecological Transition portfolio defended from the outset that a new interconnection with France should have green hydrogen as a priority, considered one of the fuels of the future. Ribera accepted, however, the orientation of the Prime Minister to include gas in the discussion with France. The agreement reached this week in Brussels seems to have proved him right. La Vanguardia spoke on Friday with the vice president.
Is the pact sealed in Brussels by Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sánchez and António Costa solid?
The pact is solid. It has the word of three heads of government. This agreement comes after a very complicated period during which the Government of Spain believed that it was very important to respond to the request for solidarity from Germany and other European countries in the face of the consequences of the war in Ukraine. We established as a condition that the new interconnection not be designed exclusively for the transport of methane gas, a project that would have difficult viability in the medium term. We proposed an infrastructure to anticipate green hydrogen, which could also be used, for a certain period of time, to transport methane gas. We put European funding as a condition and that it had continuity beyond the Pyrenees. Our proposal ran into many problems. France is in a complicated energy situation [half of its nuclear park has been out of service due to maintenance problems]. France did not have as a priority a scheme like the one proposed by Spain. We insist. Finally, France has accepted the alternative proposal to Midcat, consisting of the connection through Marseille.
Now the fine print of the agreement must be written.
Now a second stage of design and specification of the infrastructure is missing. We have already contacted the carriers, the industry and the regulators in order to have a first project ready at the beginning of December [a summit of the Mediterranean countries of the European Union will take place in Alicante on December 9]. We are going to present this project to the European Commission.
What deadlines do you work with?
After some initial conversations with Enagás this last week, we could be talking about between four and five years. We have an advantage that does not seem minor to me: Spain has already built other submarine pipelines [Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline through the Strait of Gibraltar and Medgaz gas pipeline through the Alboran Sea].
costs?
I would like to be very cautious on this matter. Let's wait for the technical studies.
Gas and hydrogen through the same line? There are those who question the viability and effectiveness of this mixed transport.
Look, a natural gas infrastructure is not prepared to transport large volumes of hydrogen, it is not prepared to transport a mixture with more than 15% hydrogen. Part of the French suspicions for the resumption of the Midcat were based on that data. A new infrastructure designed for hydrogen can transport methane gas. That is the difference. And that is one of the keys to the agreement adopted this week in Brussels.
Manufacture hydrogen and transport it over long distances, or manufacture it as close as possible to industry prior to transporting electricity. That is another dilemma.
The European Association for Clean Hydrogen estimates that there is more loss of electrical energy in long-distance lines than in hydrogen pipelines. The transport of hydrogen can be between two and four times more efficient than the transport of the electricity needed to produce the same amount.
I understand that the French reservations were also based on this point.
President Macron told us that he was willing to agree to build an infrastructure to transport hydrogen, not to transport gas. We said: no problem, we are talking about the same thing. He then added: I think it is best to transport only electricity and strengthen the electrical interconnections. So we told him: we completely agree with the strengthening of electrical interconnections, but we do not renounce the conduction of hydrogen. I think that what the Brussels agreement does is anticipate a strategic decision on the hydrogen networks, which will be a reality within fifteen years. We anticipate. We are starting to build the future and linking Europe, that is, we are building more Europe. That is one of the meanings of the agreement. European spirit. Go beyond pure domestic interest. France has seen that it cannot lose sight of the general European interest and that is why I think it has taken a very positive step.
Portugal has not been invisible in this agreement.
It hasn't been. His input and commitment have been invaluable. Portugal also wants to manufacture hydrogen.
Does the Brussels pact rule out the Italian proposal to build a gas pipeline between Barcelona and Livorno?
It doesn't make much sense to do another underwater drive. The connection to Marseille is shorter and cheaper.
Has the acting Italian Government been informed?
The Italian Government knew that an agreement with France could be reached. Spain maintains all its solidarity commitments with Italy to send liquefied natural gas by ship from the ports of Barcelona and Cartagena.
This week the price of gas has dropped below 40 euros MW/hour, deactivating the Iberian ceiling for the first time. Something incredible, if we take into account that at the end of August the reference price exceeded 330 euros. What madness is that? This week there were methane tankers anchored near Spanish ports waiting to unload, since the tanks on land were full. A few weeks ago messages of an apocalyptic winter prevailed. What the hell is going on?
There are several factors to take into account. Gas reserves are full in Europe. Warehouses have been filled well in advance, as had never happened before. They have filled themselves by paying high prices, above all the most concerned countries. We are in the second half of October and it is still hot in southern Europe. The heaters still don't work. There is less demand. And unfortunately there is a certain decline in industrial activity. More reservations and less demand. These are the main causes of the price collapse. That explains the pending unloading ships. That we are better now does not mean that we will be better throughout the winter. There may be spikes and price increases in the coming months.
After exhausting discussions, the European Council has agreed to a certain intervention in the gas market. Exactly what have you agreed?
It has been agreed to ask the European Commission to present a different price index than the current one.
Go above the Dutch index (TTF)?
Yes. A range of prices that the European Union is willing to pay. A broker of minimum and maximum prices. It is also going to create a joint purchasing platform, a proposal that Spain had been defending for months. An open platform. And the third agreement is to evaluate the application of a cap on the price of gas for the manufacture of electricity, the solution that we are applying in the Iberian Peninsula. There is still no concrete proposal, but there is the will to study it. Spain and Portugal are currently the only countries in the European Union that have insurance.
