MadridThe war in Ukraine has disrupted the plans of many governments, and in particular those related to energy. The fact that Russia, until now the largest importer of gas in the European Union, is choking the Old Continent with the supply of this fuel has caused politicians and institutions to look at projects that had been kept in the drawer. This is the case of the MidCat gas pipeline, canceled definitively in 2019, which was supposed to connect Catalonia and France through the Pyrenees and would be a new entry route for gas from the Iberian Peninsula to Europe.
Location of the MidCat pipeline
Built layout and main cities
Section under project
(paralyzed)
In Algeria it is called
Medgaz gas pipeline
Section under project
(paralyzed)
In Algeria it is called
Medgaz gas pipeline
Section under project
(paralyzed)
In Algeria it is called
Medgaz gas pipeline
The name of this infrastructure made headlines again this March. As had already happened years ago, organizations such as Ecologistes en Acció raised the finger pointing out that this is a project with a strong environmental impact and no long-term course. However, part of civil society also raised its finger and, in particular, the MidCat Response Platform, created in 2017. An organization that, as can be seen from its website, managed to bring together a dozen neighborhood associations and more than fifty entities from all over the territory, in particular from the Baix Montseny area – where the work done by the MidCat is now dying, specifically in the town of Hostalric – and the Gironès region, but also a handful of political parties and councils.
At that time, all of them left black on white that the pipeline did not generate consensus, but rather division. However, in a very different context marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some of the political colors that once frowned, today embrace the project. Among the Catalan parties, ERC stands out, which is part of the list of organizations affiliated to the Platform. Sources from the Republicans point to the ARA that “in the current context” the MidCat is a “strategic project for Europe and for Catalonia, also rightly thinking about the future and the distribution of green hydrogen” and add that they advocate for “a respectful project with environmental guarantees”. In fact, ERC voted in favor of an amendment presented in May to the Congress of Deputies in which it was requested to promote the project. PDECat also did it – Convergència i Unió never opposed it – but instead Junts abstained, even though deputy Pilar Calvo he has defended it from the rostrum of the Spanish lower house . “MidCat needs to be reactivated,” expressed Calvo.
Those who voted against that amendment were the commons and the CUP. Both games, the first through the now-defunct Initiative, were also on the slate against the MidCat. In this case, however, his position has not changed. Aliança Verda, the environmentalist party of Unides Podemos, has publicly rejected the construction. “We cannot give in on the way to continue moving towards the energy transition to go back, to an erratic policy of promoting fossil fuels”, the Greens expressed in a statement made public this week.
But this platform has not been the only place where Catalan parties have historically expressed themselves. In 2018, the CUP presented a motion against the MidCat to the Diputació de Girona, which was approved by the ERC and the PSC. The parties recognized its “serious environmental impact”, but also pointed to the lack of transparency. Els socialistes catalans, avui al govern espanyol, han recalcat que aquella votació va ser una decisió del grup a la Diputació de Girona. “We are in favor of it, this is the party’s position,” PSC sources emphasize to ARA. “Mr. Aragonès, if it is true that Catalonia is with Ukraine, you should go to the Conference of Presidents and support the MidCat connection”, expressed the head of the opposition, Salvador Illa (PSC), to Pere Aragonès at the beginning of March. All in all, to the gesture of the Provincial Council of Girona in 2018 were added the councils of Hostalric – which a few months ago again showed its opposition to the gas pipeline -, of Girona, Figueres, Salt and Sils, as well such as the Consell Comarcal de la Selva and that of Plan de l’Estany.
The arguments of that frontal opposition do not appear out of thin air. The MidCat ended up being canceled after the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) rejected the project as presented in 2019. In 2017, however, an independent report by the European Commission commissioned by the consulting firm Pöyry already concluded that the infrastructure had a high cost and presented doubts about its profitability, and only qualified that some scenarios, such as a reduction of gas by of Algeria or very high liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices could make the project interesting. In fact, the report went so far as to analyze its impact in different “stress situations” such as a “complete cut-off” of supply by Russia during a winter, and concluded that there was no additional benefit.
From euphoria to caution
Lately, the one who has instilled the most optimism around the gas pipeline has been, aside from businessmen, the Spanish government. Pedro Sánchez himself has said that it would be a “dream” for the project to come true soon. In fact, when the war broke out it was his executive who revived the debate. Well, with conditions. Despite the enthusiasm shown recently, from the same Ministry of Ecological Transition they recognized six months ago in the ARA that the MidCat was “another piece” and that different elements had to be taken into account: who will pay for it (Spain has always asked for the European collaboration); the continuity of the pipeline in French territory (France has always been against it), the useful life of the gas pipeline and the capacity to transport other energies such as green hydrogen. In an appearance in the Senate in 2019, Minister Ribera said that she felt “comfortable” with the reports against the gas pipeline that “underline that it is a ruinous project”.
A speech that the Generalitat is following, although for the moment it has not made any major public statements. Through Twitter, Aragonès has expressed the importance of the MidCat for the distribution of green hydrogen, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Victòria Alsina (Junts), has gone further criticizing that if the project was stopped it was because “Spain and France in their moment they showed great myopia”. Now, among the ranks of the Government, and in particular among those of Junts, there have also been cautious voices. “It is neither realistic nor responsible”, said the Minister of Economy, Jaume Giró, about the possibility of building the work in eight months, as the Spanish government has stated. However, the ARA has contacted the main affected area, the Ministry of Agriculture and Ecological Transition, and has not obtained any political or technical response regarding the project, although they share “the line” of the president