This Friday, the French government was concerned about resistance from Spain and Germany to claims that the European Union considers hydrogen generated from nuclear power to be “clean”, threatening a project to connect Barcelona to Marseille.
Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition of France, in statements to the Efe agency, explained that without the transfer of nuclear energy to production, it will not be possible to introduce the necessary hydrogen to make this connection profitable, which means it will not be possible to build.
When asked if France was going to use the future connection, dubbed H2Med, to put pressure on partners, the same sources said that Spain and Germany, like France, “do not want the viability of these projects to be jeopardized.”
First of all, they insisted that both Berlin and Madrid recognize nuclear-generated hydrogen as clean due to its low carbon emissions.
The French warnings about H2Med are precisely the result of the “concern” of the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, with the position of Madrid and Berlin.
In France, about 70% of electricity is generated at a nuclear power plant thanks to a fleet of 56 nuclear reactors.
The French President has strengthened his commitment to nuclear power after announcing in January 2022 that his country is going to start building at least six new nuclear reactors, due to come online by 2037.
Germany and Spain, on the contrary, intend to close all their nuclear power plants.
Ministers responsible for energy policy from 27 countries will meet in Stockholm later this month, on 27 and 28 February.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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