BarMar hydrogen pipeline between Spain and France enters detailed engineering phase

The BarMar offshore hydrogen pipeline project, the centrepiece of the broader H2Med European hydrogen corridor, has moved from its pre-engineering study phase into front-end engineering design (FEED), marking the most significant milestone yet for what would become the continent’s first cross-border subsea hydrogen link.

The 400-kilometre pipeline will connect Barcelona in Spain to the industrial hub of Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille in France, with a designed transmission capacity of two million tonnes of hydrogen per year.

The completion of the pre-FEED phase confirmed the project’s overall technical feasibility and established the design basis for the compression station and the pipeline itself. An advanced corridor route has been defined based on the initial findings of an ongoing environmental impact assessment.

The FEED phase, which will finalise the technical architecture, routing, permitting strategy and construction requirements, is now underway and is intended to pave the way for a final investment decision from investors, although no timeline for FID has been published. Commercial operations remain targeted for 2032.

BarMar is led by a joint venture of transmission system operators NaTran and Teréga of France and Enagás of Spain. H2Med is designed to connect low-cost green hydrogen produced on the Iberian Peninsula, which benefits from exceptional solar and wind resources, to industrial demand centres in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and is regarded by the European Commission as a critical piece of the EU hydrogen backbone.