BarMar enters FEED for hydrogen corridor

The BarMar hydrogen pipeline joint venture formally launched on 3 July 2025 with the signing of a Shareholders' Agreement and immediately advanced the project into its front-end engineering design phase, moving the 400 km subsea link between Barcelona and Marseille from feasibility into concrete industrial modelling.

BarMar is the operating vehicle for what would become the world's first cross-border subsea hydrogen pipeline at this scale. It is promoted by Enagás (Spain), NaTran and Teréga (France), holding stakes of 50%, 33.3% and 16.7% respectively. The pipeline has no direct route-for-route competitor. The defunct MidCat gas pipeline attempted a Spain-France connection before being abandoned in 2019, and AquaDuctus serves the North Sea corridor for Germany. BarMar is the only project holding EU Project of Common Interest status on the Mediterranean route.

Francisco Pablo de la Flor García has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the new BarMar entity.

"We are moving from feasibility studies to concrete industrial modelling, a key step towards supporting Europe's decarbonisation objectives. Designated as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) and Energy Highway by the European Commission, H2med aims for commissioning by 2032, provided that all regulatory conditions are met across the H2med corridor." — Francisco de la Flor, CEO of BarMar.

The pre-FEED phase confirmed the pipeline's overall technical feasibility, established the design basis for the compression station, and produced an advanced corridor route informed by initial environmental impact assessment findings. The pipeline will be laid on the Mediterranean seabed at depths of up to 2,600 metres, placing it among the most technically demanding hydrogen infrastructure projects in development in Europe.

PCI designation, awarded by the European Commission in April 2024 as part of the broader H2med corridor, grants BarMar fast-track authorisation procedures and simplified permitting across both Spain and France. In January 2025, CINEA awarded 100% of the requested CEF Energy funding for the project's study phases, providing over €28 million to finance the engineering work that completed pre-FEED and enabled FEED entry.

The causal sequence matters here. Enagás had signalled in its 2026 targets that FEED would begin this year, but the JV structure had to be in place before detailed engineering contracts could be awarded. The Shareholders' Agreement signing on 3 July made FEED contractually possible within days.

The broader H2med project is valued at €2.5 billion and is designed to link Portugal, Spain, France and Germany as a hydrogen export corridor. The Final Investment Decision is scheduled for 2029, with construction running from 2029 to 2032.

Enagás holds the single largest ownership stake in the only permitted subsea hydrogen route between the Iberian Peninsula and continental Europe. If BarMar reaches FID on schedule, Spain's designated hydrogen transmission system operator becomes the operator of infrastructure projected to carry 10% of the EU's anticipated hydrogen demand, embedding Iberian renewable production into European industrial supply chains for decades.