The Spanish and French gas transmission system operators Enagás, GRTgaz and Teréga, in cooperation with the German gas operator OGE, have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for the construction of the BarMar hydrogen infrastructure, which will link Portugal, Spain, France and Germany. The project will be owned by Enagas (50%), GRTgaz (33.3%) and Teréga (16.7%).
In October 2022, France, Spain and Portugal agreed to develop and build a €2.5bn underwater pipeline, which will carry natural gas and hydrogen between Barcelona (eastern Spain) and Marseille (southern France). Germany joined the project in January 2023.
The new BarMar route will be used to pump green hydrogen and other renewable gases but will also temporarily transport natural gas to help tackle Europe's current energy crisis. The project is expected to take 4 to 5 years to complete and could supply some 2 MtH2/year. The BarMar project will substitute itself to the extension plans for the MidCat pipeline (7.5 bcm/year) across the Pyrenees.
Spain is connected to France through the Lacal gas interconnection (import capacity of 5.2 bcm/year and export of 7 bcm/year) and to Portugal (import capacity of 2.5 bcm/year and export of 4.4 bcm/year).