France is reluctant to a greater interconnection with the Iberian Peninsula. One thing is the official discourse and another reality. The poor development of electricity and gas connections have turned Spain and Portugal into a true energy island, an expression that has become popular in recent months as a result of the European debates on the gas price cap. Great convulsions like the war in the Ukraine generate a lot of confusion, they cloud an entire era, but they also turn on lights. Reflectors that more clearly show some background problems. We now see more clearly the asymmetrical relationship between France and its neighbors to the south.
The Iberian exception is due to an indisputable material reality. The European Union advised in 2002 that all member countries have an interconnection of at least 10% of their installed capacity for electricity production. That goal was revised in 2014 and raised to 15% by 2030. Today, Spain can only export 2.8% of its electricity production. The interconnection between Spain and Portugal is good, but the electricity generated by the Portuguese also runs up against the Pyrenees.
Portugal feels even more isolated than Spain and its government has received Emmanuel Macron’s recent refusal to restart the Midcat gas pipeline like a slap in the face. Portugal has a regasification plant in the port of Sines, south of Lisbon, very well located geographically to receive large shipments of liquefied gas from Nigeria, the United States, Norway and other sources. The Midcat is also an interesting logistical opportunity for the Portuguese, who in 2019 voted against its suspension. The stoppage of the gas pipeline works was decided three years ago, in a very different context from the current one, by the regulatory bodies of France and Spain. The Portuguese regulator objected.
Today we are going to enlarge the photo. There are also problems with high-speed and freight rail interconnections. A recent report from the Office of the Government Commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor to which La Vanguardia has had access indicates that there will soon be a bottleneck between Perpignan and Montpellier, an outdated railway section that will not be in a position to absorb freight traffic smoothly as the European gauge connects with the port of Valencia, with Alicante, Murcia and finally Almería. It has been difficult for the Mediterranean corridor to get off the ground, but in France there does not seem to be any rush for Spanish international gauge freight trains to have a good rail motorway to reach the heart of Europe. The French priority at the moment is not the modernization of the road between Perpignan and Montpellier. Paris’ bet is the Toulouse-Bordeaux high-speed line, that is, reconnecting the country between east and west. Those on the other side of the Pyrenees who wait.
What happens between Perpignan and Montpellier? This section is not technically adapted for high speed and could hardly absorb more freight traffic. The TGVs of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF) that cover the Paris-Barcelona route must reduce speed between Montpellier and Perpignan. (The Renfe AVE have been excluded from the connection with Paris: here is another asymmetry). The French Government has a project to adapt this section, with very slow rhythms. The works between Montpellier and Béziers are scheduled to be completed in 2034. Twelve years. The modernization of the Béziers-Perpignan section would not be completed until 2044. Twenty-two years!
The calendars of the Mediterranean corridor are others. At the end of this year the studies of the new accesses to the port of Barcelona should be completed. In about two years, the port of Tarragona will also have a European gauge. Then will come Valencia, then Alicante, Murcia and finally Almería. The Mediterranean Corridor Monitoring Office estimates that between 2024 and 2026, the railway corridor that José María Aznar wanted to exclude from the map of European priorities (year 2002) will enter a phase of maturity with significant convoy traffic towards Europe. When that time comes there will be a bottleneck between Perpignan and Montpellier.
The French side, sources familiar with the negotiation refer, uses reasons similar to those used by President Macron to keep the Midcat paralyzed: “There is still not enough demand.” The Monitoring Office replies: “The Perpignan-Montpellier section can today absorb the European gauge freight trains that depart from Barcelona, ??but it will be saturated when Valencia, Alicante, the Murcian orchard and Almería are added. And that will happen long before 2034.”
Paris gives priority to the Toulouse-Bordeaux railway axis and this will also negatively affect the high-speed connection between the Basque Country and France. The expensive Basque Y may remain in suspension points in Irun.
Midcat is only part of the problem. We will keep reporting.
