“The ‘Energy Highways’ initiative will address eight major bottlenecks across Europe, representing the most urgent energy infrastructure needs,” announces the European Commission in a statement.
Among the projects are electric interconnections through the Pyrenees for better integration of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the southwest hydrogen corridor, which will link Portugal to Germany.
The initiative “addresses the most urgent infrastructure needs, requiring additional short-term support and a commitment to their implementation,” with the projects “selected based on their strategic importance for completing the Energy Union and the level of EU political support needed for their successful implementation,” the institution explains in the note.
“Each project will be prioritized at the EU level, and the Commission will support Member States to assign the same priority at the national level,” it further assures.
Last week, the institution selected two electricity and hydrogen corridors involving Portugal as projects of common and mutual interest to receive EU support.
The projects in question include an electrical interconnection between Portugal and Spain (passing through Ponte de Lima, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Beariz, and Fontefría) and another hydrogen interconnection between Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany (including an internal hydrogen infrastructure in Portugal and a hydrogen interconnector between Portugal and Spain, among other links).
In a press conference in Brussels, European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen refrained from specifying timelines for the completion of these projects but assured that “the work does not start today” and that the institution is “in dialogue with the governments involved in all these projects.”
“The timeline is different from project to project, as are the challenges,” he said simply.
When questioned about the blackout that occurred last April, Dan Jørgensen highlighted the “great solidarity shown towards Spain and Portugal.”
“If we want to maintain our energy security in the future and avoid blackouts, the answer is more connections, and these eight projects are definitely a big step in the right direction,” he added.
The European Commission shares Portugal’s view on the need to build more energy interconnections in the EU, particularly between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the bloc, and is trying to engage in dialogue with France.
The blackout in the Iberian Peninsula last April highlighted the importance of increasing the resilience of the EU energy grid, at a time when the Iberian territory has connectivity below 3% with the rest of the Union.
The Portuguese government has been advocating for an increase in Portugal’s energy interconnection with the rest of the EU to 15% by 2030 through the construction of more interconnections.
The EU has set precisely an interconnection target of at least 15% by 2030.
The strengthening of energy interconnections between Portugal and Spain and the EU has been discussed for several years, but due to France’s skepticism, it has never fully progressed, despite being important for enhancing energy security, reducing fossil fuel dependence, lowering costs, and facilitating the transition to renewable energies.
