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By Andreas Rinke, Belén Carreño and Michel Rose
PARIS/MADRID/BERLIN (Reuters) – French scepticism a couple of new fuel pipeline throughout the Pyrenees highlights the competing visions for Europe’s future power combine because the continent urgently confronts an influence disaster.
MidCat could be a 3rd fuel connection between France and Spain which its foremost backers, Madrid, Lisbon and extra not too long ago Berlin, say would assist Europe scale back its Russian fuel reliance.
However French President Emmanuel Macron has bluntly advised his companions he sees no case for the multi-billion euro mission.
France says MidCat would take too lengthy to construct to ease the looming power crunch, be pricey for France and go towards ambitions to shift in direction of a inexperienced financial system.
Officers in Spain and Germany, talking on situation of anonymity, advised Reuters they consider that France is performing to guard its personal ailing nuclear business and fend off competitors from Spain as a staging publish for imported fuel.
“Macron is underneath strain at dwelling from totally different teams, which do not just like the pipeline mission, the largest is unquestionably the nuclear energy sector,” a senior German authorities supply stated.
Spokespersons for the French power ministry and EDF (EPA:), which operates France’s nuclear reactors, declined to remark.
Russia provided 40% of Europe’s fuel earlier than its invasion of Ukraine. Now, the area is scrambling to diversify its power sources and MidCat was one of many initiatives EU ministers mentioned at an emergency assembly in Brussels final week.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz final month described the pipeline as “dramatically lacking” from Europe’s community, and final week raised the problem with Macron throughout a videocall.
Instantly afterwards, Macron stated there was spare capability within the pipes already linking Spain and France and MidCat couldn’t be constructed swiftly sufficient to ease this winter’s disaster.
“I don’t perceive what short-term drawback this could remedy,” Macron stated.
However whereas it could not present instant aid, Spain and Portugal say they’ve an answer with new fuel routes and Madrid stated it was prepared to influence Macron over MidCat.
Each have a big fuel import capability, with seven LNG terminals which convert tankers of liquefied (LNG) again into vapour kind to be used by business and households if the infrastructure was in place for it to be piped to different international locations akin to Germany through France.
The French president has stated he doesn’t get all of the fuss round MidCat, telling reporters final week: “I don’t perceive why we might bounce round like Pyrenees goats on this subject”.
This has led officers in Madrid to query if Macron could also be angling for one thing in return, whether or not EU financing or backing for one more mission. And regardless of Macron’s statements, French officers have left the door ajar to additional discussions.
However in an indication of Spanish frustration, one supply stated France wanted to exhibit the way it was contributing to European “power solidarity”, given half of its nuclear reactors are offline and it’s counting on others to supply it with energy.
Macron, nonetheless, has stated that plans to reactivate a disused interconnector in japanese France in order that Paris can pipe its personal fuel direct to Germany if required is proof of its dedication.
It should enable France to ship Germany as much as 20 terawatt hours (TWh) of fuel over the winter, roughly 2% of the fuel wants of Europe’s largest financial system. A German official stated the deal wouldn’t repair Germany’s crunch however despatched markets a message.
COMPETING INTERESTS
A joint proposal for a brand new trans-Pyrenees pipeline that may have a capability to greater than double the quantity of fuel piped between Spain and France was rejected by power regulators for each international locations in 2019.
The mission was proposed by Terega, a fuel grid firm owned partly by Italy’s Snam and EDF, and its Spanish counterpart Enagas at an estimated value of three billion euros.
Whereas the French regulator stated the financial advantages could be tilted in direction of Spain, Madrid says Russian strikes to chop fuel provides imply that the upside of MidCat would now prolong far past Spain’s personal borders.
Nonetheless, France has terminals on its Atlantic and Channel shores and it too desires a slice of LNG imports.
“France has (LNG terminals) that may course of fuel for the entire of Europe,” a French authorities supply stated.
However long run, France is betting closely on reviving its troubled nuclear business in its drive for carbon neutrality, and Paris has questioned MidCat’s inexperienced credentials.
It might be at the very least the tip of the last decade earlier than MidCat could possibly be completed, French power ministry officers say.
“By that time, the precedence shall be de-carbonising the financial system, not utilizing extra fuel. So we’re considerably puzzled,” one ministry official advised Reuters.
HYDROGEN OPTION
Berlin’s major curiosity in MidCat lies in inexperienced hydrogen quite than near-term LNG provides, two senior German officers advised Reuters.
Officers in Madrid and Berlin argue the pipeline could possibly be repurposed to hold zero-emission hydrogen gas made within the Sahara desert or elsewhere to Europe’s industrial heartland.
However France would quite produce hydrogen regionally than depend on imports. And it doubts the short-term feasibility, a French authorities supply stated, of Germany’s imaginative and prescient for hydrogen, which is notoriously harder to move than pure fuel.
Within the face of French resistance, Madrid and Berlin are exploring options. Plan B might bypass France altogether and construct a pipeline underneath the Mediterranean to Italy.
Madrid is accelerating a feasibility research for a pipeline from Barcelona to Livorno on the Tuscan coast. A Spanish official stated it might take longer to construct, however had the political backing of the outgoing Italian authorities.
A senior official from Spain’s autonomous Catalonia area, a backer of MidCat, stated a submarine pipeline to Italy could be extra pricey and carry higher environmental and different dangers.
One drawback is the flammability of hydrogen, which additionally leaks extra simply than fuel as a result of its molecules are smaller, whereas it will probably make additionally some grades of metal brittle, the official stated.