The Mediterranean Bet
On a languid summer Thursday—3 July 2025—three grid operators quietly rewrote Europe’s hydrogen map. Spain’s Enagás, France’s Natran (Engie’s transmission arm) and the south-west French storage specialist Teréga signed a shareholders’ pact creating BarMar Company, the vehicle that will lay a 450-kilometre pipe across the Mediterranean seabed, linking Barcelona to Marseille by the end of the decade. Brussels has already declared the project a “Project of Common Interest,” unlocking fast-track permits and pledging to cover up to half the cost under its Connecting Europe Facility.
The price tag—about €2.5 billion for two million tonnes a year of capacity—works out at roughly €1,250 per annual tonne,
