Gas France confirms it does not intend to extend MidCat

Gas: France confirms it does not intend to extend MidCat gas pipeline between Aude and Catalonia

Relaunched since the start of the war in Ukraine, the idea of ​​extending the gas pipeline between France and Spain via Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales has faded into the background.

France seems unwilling to give in to pressure from Catalonia and Germany on the issue MidCat pipeline which until now has stopped near Barbaira in the Aude and which would eventually connect France with Spain via the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, had evoked, without naming it, this missing link between Aude and Catalonia and called for the European grid to be connected to the Spanish one. Germany is pushing the passage a little at a time when Europe wants to do without gas from Russia in the short term.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the relaunch of the MidCat project (abandoned in 2019) has been heavily discussed by Catalonia. This week the Spanish government even spoke of a connection between Hostalrich and Barbaira that could be realized in less than 8 months.

But when asked by our Catalan colleagues from Ara, the Ministry of Ecological Transition dampened the enthusiasm of the Germans and Catalans. “It would take many years for the project to become operational and it would therefore not be an answer to the current crisis,” indicate Agnès Pannier-Runacher’s services. A position similar to that of former Minister for Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili in L’Indépendant last April.

No investment in fossil fuels

France also reminds that Europe’s goal is to renounce fossil fuels by 2050. “The development of long-term gas infrastructure at a time when Europe is accelerating its (ecological) transition requires a good assessment.”

However, Spain and Germany had indicated on this topic that they wanted to use the infrastructure for future green hydrogen. There, too, France is not overflowing with enthusiasm … “The uncertainties about the production and consumption of hydrogen are very high” and it will be “complicated” to adapt the pipeline.

As a reminder, the MidCat gas pipeline project was abandoned in 2019 amid strong reluctance from local environmental groups.

On Ara.cat, France indicates that it is more in favor of infrastructures that allow the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG). “It’s a faster route that allows you to import gas from the Gulf or the United States.” Without forgetting “the establishment of LNG terminals in Northern and Eastern Europe”, which implies “smaller and faster investments”.