Gas supply: Emmanuel Macron still rejects pipeline through the Pyrenees

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Emmanuel Macron at the EU summit in Prague: "Strategy for renewable energy and nuclear power"

Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

The traffic light government traveled to Spain in large numbers, also to gain access to gas from the country - in the future also hydrogen produced from renewable energies.

Both countries want a pipeline through the Pyrenees so that the gas from the Iberian Peninsula can also reach Germany.

French President Emmanuel Macron, however, is skeptical about the pipeline that would have to run through his country.

And despite the growing pressure from Spain and Germany, the concerns have so far not changed.

Electricity is more important to Macron

"I think our priority is more to have power networks in Europe," Macron said on the sidelines of a meeting with over 40 other European leaders in Prague.

The French President said that he was basically open to grid expansion projects.

»But what does Europe need in the coming years?

The production of more electricity on our own soil and a strategy for renewable energy and nuclear power.«

Macron complained that the construction of the Midcat pipeline would take five to eight years.

France also does not want to become a major gas importer.

"Our strategy will tend towards hydrogen," said Macron.

But you have to consider whether you want to transport hydrogen or electricity through Europe.

Hydrogen can be produced from electricity in a climate-friendly manner and – like gas – transported via pipelines.

Germany and Spain want to use Midcat for this.

The line would run from Barcelona across the Pyrenees to the connection to the French network in Barbaira in southern France.

In Spain, the tube is complete as far as Hostalric, 106 kilometers south of the border; in France, around 120 kilometers are missing.

The Midcat project was originally canceled in 2017 due to a lack of profitability.

At the German-Spanish government consultations, however, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made a new push for the construction of the pipeline by 2025.

The SPD politician affirmed in Prague that the European energy infrastructure must be improved.

"It's part of building a European network," he said.

This applies to electricity, gas and hydrogen.

apr/dpa