Spain and Italy prepare an alternative gas pipeline before the Midcat blockade

Spain and Italy move forward to increase their gas interconnections. Both countries have started working on an alternative route to the Midcat with France to try to expand the capacity of gas entry to Europe. The possible route would go from Barcelona to Genoa in order to facilitate the rapid transit of gas to the heart of Europe.

As explained by Marco Alverà, CEO of the Italian technical manager Snam, in the presentation of the company’s results: “We are studying with our partners all the options to unblock this capacity through the Midcat project in France that we have been defending for several years. In the absence of real and rapid progress on Midcat, we are also in the pre-feasibility phase of a new offshore gas pipeline from Spain to Italy In the very short term, we are organizing a virtual gas pipeline with a system of small ships to transport LNG from Spain to Panigaglia, where only the smallest ships can unload”.

The doubts that exist with this gas pipeline project with France focus on the quantities that could be necessary to supply central Europe over the next few years and, for this reason, it is claimed that if the Midcat project goes ahead, sale accompanied by long-term contracts term.

Italy’s dependence on Russian gas, with nearly 40% of its supply, opens the door for it to become a recipient of the gas that reaches Spain through the network of existing regasification plants.

The start-up of the interconnection with France through the Pyrenees would entail an investment of around 500 million euros, but France would have to allocate close to 2,000 million to reinforce its gas network in the south -the former PEG Sud market- in order to take said gas to Germany or Italy. Both countries remain heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and need alternative entry routes in order to reduce their dependence.

presidential meeting

Today, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi; and the President of the Portuguese Government, António Costa, met in Rome, while the Greek, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, participated by videoconference, because he is in isolation after contracting the coronavirus.

Sánchez warned, in a joint appearance without questions after the summit, that the EU cannot wait “not one more day” to adopt measures to reform the energy market and that the time to act is “now”.

The President of the Government stressed that the war in Ukraine has caused “unbearable volatility” in prices and that it cannot be responded to in 27 different ways, but jointly by the entire EU. Draghi was in the same line and assured that “a common management of the energy market is beneficial for all”.

The Italian president explained that the countries of southern Europe support the approval of measures, albeit temporary, to prevent high gas prices from affecting energy bills, and will try to convince the so-called “frugal” countries (the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria), which are the most reticent.