BarMar, an opportunity for Barcelona and Catalonia

BarcelonaThe Spanish and German governments have convinced the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to build a submarine hydroduct between Barcelona and Marseille as an alternative to the border interconnection of the MidCat gas pipeline, which reaches Hostalric. The infrastructure, called BarMar, is still in its infancy, but at the outset it represents an opportunity for the Catalan capital to become a hub of green hydrogen distribution, one of the clean fuels of the future that will serve to replace current fossil-based energies, such as oil or gas.

Initially, however, this infrastructure would also serve to transport gas, since Barcelona already has an important Enagás regasification plant, capable of converting liquefied gas arriving from Algeria or the United States into gas. What is important is that Barcelona would benefit from being the origin of an infrastructure designed for the future and that opens the doors to become a pole of attraction for the entire industry related to the new technology of the ‘green hydrogen’, i.e. hydrogen made with renewable energy. This means skilled jobs in one of the emerging sectors of the future.

BarMar opens its doors in Barcelona to become a pole of attraction for the entire industry related to green hydrogen

For France, the BarMar also offers advantages. At the outset, Macron is spared the strong opposition that existed in Northern Catalonia against land infrastructure, capitalized in part by the extreme right. And then it has the chance to turn Marseille into a gas or hydrogen tap to Germany, which needs it for its big chemical industry, now that it seems clear that the era of Russian gas is over cheap In short, if Europe has to walk towards energy self-sufficiency, better than one of the hubs of distribution is in Catalonia and not elsewhere.

However, in order to maximize the impact of BarMar, Catalonia needs to make a leap in renewable energy and overcome the current stagnation. The construction of the hydroduct must become an even greater incentive not only to accelerate the use of the sun or the wind, but to make Catalonia a leader in the green energy sector by taking advantage of the fact that sustainability is a strategic axis for the European Union and that there are many funding avenues open.

It’s not just about building solar and wind parks, that too, but about electrifying private transport as much as possible, giving the electric car a definite boost, and working to be as ambitious and creative as possible in this area. Because what is demonstrated by the current crisis stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is that the entire industry depends on having a cheap source of energy at its disposal in order to be competitive. That is why the economies of the future that will succeed will be those that combine the maximum added value of their manufactures and services with energy sustainability. And so far Catalonia has not done its homework in this second area.

Content produced by

• Front page

• Last hour

• discover

• sections

• 
  

  Profile