At a press conference, the Portuguese Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho and the Spanish Minister of Energy Teresa Ribera informed that they are working to remove the obstacles related to the execution of the project.

Before the end of September, they should submit the project proposals to the European Commission with a view to starting construction work in 2027, the officials confirmed.

Our commitment is to meet the deadlines, follow closely all technological advances and try to remove barriers to the project, Carvalho said, although he acknowledged there is still much work to be done at the technological level to ensure the transportation of hydrogen.

According to Ribera, Spain and Portugal have the conditions to be a renewable energy superpower, and the two countries intend to use the cheap hydrogen capacity they hope to build to decarbonize heavy industry and attract investment.

Preliminary assessments revealed that the planned link between Barcelona and Marseille will cost some two and a half billion euros and will have the capacity to move two million metric tons of hydrogen per year.

The venture called BarMar would be part of H2MED, a hydrogen infrastructure network designed to mitigate Europe’s current energy difficulties.

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