General – Green Energy Corridor
Portugal, Spain and France agreed on the creation of a Green Energy Corridor, therefore overcoming one of the oldest blockages around the subject of interconnecting the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe.
When entering the European Council, and following a meeting with the President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez and the President of France Emmanuel Macron, the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa stated:
“Today we reached an agreement to definitively overcome the old project called MidCat and develop and develop a new project we called the Green Energy Corridor, which will allow us to complement the interconnections between Portugal and Spain, between Celorico da Beira and Zamora, as well as connecting Spain with the rest of Europe, connecting Barcelona and Marseille by sea.”
According to the Prime Minister, the agreement reached is a good contribution by the three countries for the whole of Europe and for the spirit of joint solidarity that we all need to face this energy crisis.
António Costa said: “We still need to adjust the details from a technical perspective when it comes to European funding, namely through what the European Commission can allocate to the European interconnections and also to define with the Commission the financing of this new connection through the European interconnection facility.”
Gas pipeline will be for green hydrogen and other renewable gases
António Costa said that this gas pipeline will be “for green hydrogen” or other renewable gases, even if temporarily it can be used “to transport natural gas up to a certain proportion” adding that “the energy interconnections will also be strengthened”.
He also noted that the three countries will meet again in Alicante, Spain, on 9 December, before the meeting already scheduled for the Summit of the EU Southern Countries so that there is time for the details on this connection to be adjusted from a technical perspective. António Costa noted the diplomatic, technical and political work undertaken in the last year to reach this agreement.
