Spain and France to use planned pipeline only for hydrogen

Spain and France have abandoned plans to transport natural gas via undersea pipeline, saying the pipeline would only carry hydrogen Spain and France have abandoned plans to transport natural gas between their two countries via an undersea pipeline. Instead, hydrogen would be transported in a bid to secure the maximum possible EU funding for the project. Officials from both countries have outlined the plan ahead of a summit in Alicante, Spain, on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa are due to meet to discuss the pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille and are due to hold a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to seek her support. The EU has prioritised hydrogen as an alternative energy source as it aims to cut greenhouse gases by at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. Some experts question the feasibility of such a hybrid approach, warning that it would make it harder to obtain EU funding given Brussels’ strict rules limiting the financing of fossil fuel infrastructure. “The rules for applying for European financing require that this be a hydrogen pipeline only. That’s the expectation at the moment. That’s what the European Commission wants and that’s the main scenario we’re working on,” a Spanish government official said, adding: “Given the time it will take to build and the gas phase-out, the undersea pipeline will not alleviate Europe’s current energy crisis. This is not a piece of infrastructure that is intended to solve the current crisis. It’s a project about the future ecological transition.”