As reported by Rador with reference to Euronews, Spain and France have reached a new agreement to build an underwater gas pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille, canceling a long-stalled pipeline project that was supposed to connect the two countries through the Pyrenees Mountains.

The new pipeline will allow Spain and Portugal – two major importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – to deliver their excess supplies to France and other European countries.

LNG has become a key raw material to replace the large volume of Russian gas cut off by the Kremlin after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union is trying to secure as much commercial LNG as possible to get through the winter without major blackouts or gas rationing.

The agreement was announced on Thursday by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, which will focus on the energy crisis.

“This is very good news for Europe,” Sanchez said before the summit. “This solidarity is consistent with our ecological transition.” “The goal is for Spain and Portugal to be better connected to the rest of the continent,” Macron said.

The leaders confirmed that the MidCat project is officially terminated with this agreement. The 226-kilometer pipeline was to connect Spain’s gas network with France’s gas network, crossing the Pyrenees from Hostalric in Catalonia to Barbeira in southern France.

MidCat has been on hold since 2019 when an independent report questioned the pipeline’s price and profitability

But the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis gave new impetus and prompted calls from Madrid and Lisbon to complete the project.

Macron, however, continued his opposition, arguing that the pipeline project was too expensive and, moreover, would not meet the EU’s environmental ambitions and could not transport electricity.

The French leader also said the two existing pipelines that run from Spain to France through the Basque Country are only being used at “50% to 60%” of their total capacity.

Instead of the MidCat project, the three countries will build the underwater pipeline BarMar, which will connect Barcelona with Marseille.

The leaders also promised to complete another gas interconnector, called CelZa, between the cities of Celoriku da Beira in Portugal and Zamora in central Spain.

In addition, Spain and France are seeking to complete a new electrical connection across the Bay of Biscay while working to identify similar projects.

Sánchez, Macron and Costa will meet again on December 9 to determine the details of the financing of the BarMar project. The Spanish government previously suggested that any new link with France would require EU funds because of its cross-border dimension, reports Euronews, as cited by Rador.