The proposals put up by Berlin have received approval from Madrid and Lisbon, which means that the new infrastructure can be completed in nine months.
Spain and Portugal have given their approval to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's proposal to connect the Iberian Peninsula and Germany by means of a gas pipeline. This will allow these two countries to compensate for the decrease in the amount of natural gas imported from Russia by receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) at their respective terminals. According to Teresa Ribera, the Spanish Minister of Energy, the completion of the new infrastructure may take nine months.
Because Russian gas exports via Nord Stream have been cut down, and because there is a possibility that the pipeline may be completely shut down, Berlin is desperately searching for alternate energy supply pathways to Moscow. One of Germany's economic advantages, particularly its position as the world's primary importer of natural gas from Russia, has recently transformed into a significant disadvantage for the country. Especially considering that, in contrast to countries like Spain, France, and Italy, this nation does not own any ports for the import of LNG.
On the other hand, the Iberian Peninsula possesses two significant benefits: first, it possesses a number of terminals that have the potential to act as the gateway to the new LNG stocks that have been promised by the United States and other non-EU countries; second, in the case of Spain, it has connections with the fields that are located in the north. Africa. Because of this, Scholz has proposed a solution to the problem of insufficient gas pipelines running from Western Europe to the Northeast. "I am very active in talks with my two colleagues in Spain and Portugal," the Chancellor said, referring to Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez and Antonio Costa. "But also with the French President," Emmanuel Macron, "and the President of the European Commission," Ursula von der Leyen," in arguing that we should undertake such a project," the Chancellor added. "I am very active in talks with my two colleagues in Spain and Portugal."
A project that has in fact already been completed. It goes by the name Midcat, and according to the blueprints from the beginning, it was planned to transport gas from Portugal and Spain to Germany through France (which is already connected with Berlin). The idea, which was first introduced in 2013, was met with opposition from several environmental organizations until it was finally scrapped in 2019. Now, both Madrid and Lisbon indicate that they are prepared to step in and fill the void. Undoubtedly, in conjunction with France and Germany. According to the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, "Germany can depend on Portugal's commitment to establishing a gas pipeline to the fullest extent possible." Costa continued his commentary by writing on Twitter, saying, "Today gas, tomorrow green hydrogen."