In a joint open letter, 25 parliamentarians from the Occitania region called out to President Macron. They are concerned about the gas pipeline project between Barcelona and Marseille and suggest an interconnection via Port-La-Nouvelle instead.

The parliamentarians of Occitania have been up in arms since the Midcat gas pipeline project between Spain and France via the Pyrenees had been abandoned, and the project BarMa (underwater link between Barcelona and Marseille) was announced in its stead. And they are making this known in an open letter signed by 25 senators and members of parliament. According to these elected representatives, it would be better to have a submarine link between Barcelona and Port-La-Nouvelle, then a land link to Marseille. The Occitania region, which has been investing vastly in hydrogen with a budget of €150 million (around $154 million), does not want to be left by the wayside.

The reference to Port-La-Nouvelle is explained by the fact that this site (in the southern region of Aude) will massively produce green hydrogen from offshore wind turbines. This will then supply several customers, including stations planned as part of corridors to contribute to the deployment of mobility. In this text, it is written that the gas pipeline “must imperatively pass through the southwest, and in particular Occitania.” Otherwise, the industrial sector and massification risk being “stopped dead in its tracks.” The parliamentarians, including the Socialist Party (PS) senator of Aude Sébastien Pla, say “yes to energy interconnection” but no “to abandoning the territorial ecosystems of the Occitania region.”

“We strongly request that the President of the Republic, Mr Emmanuel Macron, advocate for our regional energy model, and in particular the hydrogen dynamic illustrated in Port-La-Nouvelle in Aude, during the next Euromed summit to be held in Alicante on 8 and 9 December” concludes the text.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King