The Iberian mechanism, the cap on gas in the wholesale electricity market, has saved Spaniards "more than 4,000 million euros" in its first semester of life, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, said this Wednesday in the Congress. Now, with the agreement for a cap on gas at the European level, it is guaranteed that the "so spectacular" increase in prices experienced this summer "cannot be a reality again".
In these six months, the supply of between 2% and 3.5% of the total consumption of France has also been guaranteed, which requested support from Spain for the stoppage of its nuclear power plants, and 35% of that of Portugal, highly dependent on hydraulic power, which has been scarce in a very dry year. The minister has also highlighted that the possibilities of electrical interconnection with France have been strengthened, which has become a priority objective for the neighboring country for the first time in history, she has said.
The vice president also responded to another question from Vox about the measures that the Executive has adopted to alleviate families in a situation of energy poverty. Ribera stated that the four major indicators with which the Government calibrates energy poverty have remained stable or decreased since June 2018. Thus, the data on energy poverty linked to disproportionate spending in homes, hidden energy poverty and inadequate temperature in the home in winter, and the rate of delays in utility bill payments has only slightly worsened.
On another front, Ribera has defended the H2Med project, a connection with France for green hydrogen, over previous alternatives such as Midcat, focused on gas. "We anticipate because Europe will need renewable hydrogen," he stated. The future green energy interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and France, through Barcelona and Marseille, will finally be an underwater corridor at a cost of 2,500 million euros.
With a union also with Portugal, it is expected that the project will be financed up to 50% by Brussels and that it can transport 10% of the hydrogen consumed in Europe in 2030.
