As Europe scrambles to shore up its energy supplies, Spanish gas system operator Enagas said on Thursday that it was working ‘urgently’ with French counterpart Terega on expanding a cross-border pipeline’s capacity.
A third interconnection is being considered. Between France and Spain, there are two pipelines with a combined capacity to transport seven billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually, or seven LNG tankers.
Enagas claimed that after an update, the duct’s capacity—which runs from the town of Irun in northern Spain through the Pyrenees mountain range—could be increased by an additional 1.5 bcm annually.
To make the most of the Irun interconnection’s two motor compressors, urgent technical work is being done, according to Enagas.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the continent to experience an energy crisis, Europe is frantically trying to diversify its energy sources.
In order to help European neighbours looking for alternatives to Russian gas this winter, France, once the continent’s top power exporter, may not be able to produce enough nuclear energy. France may even be forced to ration electricity in order to meet its own needs.
If further pipelines are constructed, the seven LNG terminals that Spain and Portugal have claim to be able to serve central Europe. A Spain-to-France project called ‘Midcat’ that was abandoned in 2019 has seen renewed discussion.
However, France opposes the idea, claiming that the two current pipelines are underutilised and that flows are primarily directed towards Spain.
According to Terega’s website, the two largest shareholders are the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and the Italian gas grid operator Snam.
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