The operators of the transmission system Enagas, NaTran, and Teréga have signed a shareholders’ agreement to form the BarMar joint venture, initiating the development of the renewable hydrogen pipeline linking Barcelona, Spain, and Marseille, France. Its achievement is a step towards the first clean hydrogen corridor in the European Union, which will supply 10 percent of hydrogen use in Europe by 2030.
Joint venture structure provides a definite governing structure
According to Enagas, the governance structure of the project was defined by shareholding, where EIH-Enagas (50), NaTran (33.3), and Teréga (16.7) would hold equal shares in the new company located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southern France. This division represents the general share of the H2med project, which is divided 50:50 between Spain and France.
As the Chief Executive Officer of the new entity, Francisco Pablo de la Flor of Enagas has been hired. This giant move follows one year after a Joint Development Agreement signed in June 2024, which offers a clear framework and expedites the roll-out of this vital constituent of the initial clean hydrogen proper corridor of the European Union. The milestone was declared eight days following the reaffirmation of European support in a high-level meeting between project leaders and European Commission executive vice-president Teresa Ribera.
Industry leaders show their desire to have European energy sovereignty
Similarly to this, the project gains ground as the Grant Agreements were signed recently with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency with respect to both the BarMar and the CelZa projects. The financing obtained is 100 percent of the amount that has been requested under the Connecting Europe Facility and 50 percent of the cost of development that is essential in initiating the engineering study, marine reconnaissance surveys, and the impact on the environment.
The formation of this company in partnership is our overall dedication and resolve to provide this essential energy infrastructure in Europe, said Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Enagas. It is the start of a new operational stage that will enable us to work on the technical and regulatory issues with an integrated team and a shared objective of making H2med a reality.
Sandrine Meunier, the CEO of NaTran, said that this new joint company offers the framework required for developing the BarMar hydrogen pipeline, which is one of the major parts of the H2med project. It is also concrete in its power to foster cross-border collaboration to build strategic energy infrastructure to decarbonize our industries.
Strategic pipeline joins the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Europe
According to the words of Carolle Foissaud, the CEO of Teréga, the statement about the BarMar company makes H2med the core of the energy sovereignty in Europe and allows reaching the target of carbon neutrality. The European grant is a witness to the trust in our collective experience. H2Med is an inter-regional initiative to access hydrogen networks in the Iberian Peninsula with those in France, Germany, and Northwest Europe, to allow affordable access to renewable hydrogen by 2030.
H2Med will be a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal and Spain (CelZa) and a subsea pipeline linking Spain and France (BarMar). This transnational activity aims to link the hydrogen systems of the Iberian Peninsula to those of France, Germany, and the entire Northwest Europe so that by 2030, Europe should be able to receive inexpensive and renewable hydrogen.
The introduction of the BarMar joint venture is a landmark in the creation of the European hydrogen infrastructure, which has laid down a clear governance framework and ensured a significant sum of money to fund the energy change project. Since Europe is increasingly shifting towards the use of renewable energy sources, the Barcelona-Marseille pipeline is a vital connection in the new hydrogen economy of the continent.