The CEO of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo Aizpiriz, has drawn this Tuesday a relatively benign outlook for the 2023 energy market. During the presentation of the company's results to the media, he stressed that Europe will end this winter with some filling levels of gas tanks "that nobody would have imagined three or six months ago".
For this reason, although he does not rule out price tensions if winter worsens in the coming weeks, "we are by no means going to see prices like those of 2022 when the price of gas on the Dutch TTF market exceeded 300 euros", assured the executive.
Behind this tranquility is the diversification of suppliers that the continent currently has in the face of the strong dependence on natural gas from Russia that it had a year ago. Although it has confirmed that Enagás and the rest of the European countries will continue to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Russia, "because at the moment there are no European regulations that prevent it".
In this context, the CEO of Enagás also spoke about the imminent start-up of the El Musel storage plant, in Gijón, which will serve as a storage center for that LNG from the floating regasification plants through which, for example, Germany has bet and whose size prevents a great capacity to accumulate gas.
Asked about the future of the hydrogen pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille after the latest tension between the Government of France and Spain, the manager has ruled out that the future of the infrastructure is at risk.
He claims to understand the French position to defend a viable future for its pink hydrogen (from nuclear energy) but has recalled that the current project presented to the European Union only contemplates that H2Med pumps green hydrogen from Barcelona to Marseille. "The only compression pump that the project has is in Barcelona and the only gas that has been reported to go through the tube is green hydrogen," he said.
This design, he recalled, which was ratified and presented jointly by Spain, Portugal and France to Brussels for the project to be declared of Community Interest with the aim that European funds finance between 30% and 50% of Its cost set at 2,500 million euros.
It is a project that has already been presented and that Gonzalo rules out as being at risk. “I am convinced that the final regulatory framework for the connection is compatible with the interests of France and Germany. Germany for the moment has highlighted its priority for renewable hydrogen. There is no risk regarding the viability of the infrastructures, what happens is that in Europe progress is sometimes made with difficulty, but the objectives are very clear, which are decarbonization and energy security ”, he assured.
The importance of green hydrogen is of such caliber for the future of the company led by Arturo Gonzalo that his commitment implies a change in the future Enagas model. As the manager explained to analysts and journalists, in the future his objective is to become the operator of the European hydrogen system, a challenge that will entail a high investment effort. For this reason, Enagás is already contemplating the sale of its assets in Latin America and from 2030 in its investee Enagás Renovables to focus on regulated projects at a European level.
