Visit of the government representatives from the Czech Republic
else: ?>Transalpine Ölleitung in Österreich GmbH: visit of the government representatives from the Czech Republic.The capacity expansion of the pipeline as part of the strategic TAL-PLUS project is intended to make the Czech Republic completely independent of Russian crude oil from 2025.
In mid-July 2024, a delegation from the Czech government and TAL shareholder MERO ČR visited Transalpine Ölleitung in Österreich GmbH to learn about the progress of the TAL-PLUS project. Jan Udržal, Secretary of the Special Representative for Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and Pavel Janouškovec, Chief Operating Technician at MERO ČR, were personally briefed by Alessio Lilli, CEO of the TAL Group, on the status of the work in Austria. At the Gruben site, the delegation visited the pumping station and learned about the ongoing pump replacement. The guests were then shown the world’s first crude oil power plant, Taimeralm. In the municipality of Mittersill, TAL Transalpine Ölleitung in Österreich GmbH has been using the gradient of the pipeline after the Felbertauern peak to generate emission-free energy since 2018, setting new standards. The amount of energy generated corresponds to around twelve percent of TAL’s current energy consumption in Austria and can supply 3,000 households.
TAL-PLUS will guarantee the maximum output and capacity of the Transalpine Pipeline from 2025. TAL already covers almost 50% of the Czech Republic’s crude oil requirements. The strategic TAL-PLUS project ensures that the Czech Republic will receive an additional 4 million tons of oil per year from the port of Trieste, the starting point of the TAL pipeline, from 2025. This capacity via the western route using the TAL and IKL pipelines will completely replace all crude oil shipments from Russia that currently flow to the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline. In order to ensure the necessary increase in capacity of the pipeline from 6,400 to 7,500 cubic meters per hour, pumps and motors will be replaced and changes made to the control system between July and December 2024. These technical upgrades are necessary in Italy, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.
MERO ČR is the main partner of the TAL-PLUS project and the owner and operator of the Czech section of the Druzhba and ICL pipelines. The company is therefore the only crude oil transporter in the Czech Republic and the most important company for the storage of strategic oil reserves. MERO ČR has held a 5% stake in the TAL Group since December 2012. The modernization of TAL also requires changes to the entry and exit of the IKL pipeline in the Czech Republic.
“The TAL Group is aware of the strategic importance of the TAL-PLUS project for the security of the Czech Republic’s energy supply and will therefore be strongly committed to its timely realization by the end of 2024. The expansion pipeline capacity with the utmost attention to safety and operational efficiency,’ assures Alessio Lilli, CEO of the TAL Group.
‘TAL-PLUS / Throughput 7500 is a project of immense importance for our energy security. It will end our dependence on Russian crude oil. TAL employees were very helpful in informing us about the realization of the project and showing us the facilities on site,’ said Jan Udržal, Secretary of the Special Envoy for Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
‘We would like to thank our colleagues from TAL for their warm welcome and for the opportunity to not only visit the interesting sites of the TAL pipeline and discuss the technical specifics of the TAL-PLUS project with the Managing Director of the TAL Group and the management of the TAL project team, but also for the opportunity to see the progress of the installation of the new pumps and motors directly in Gruben, Austria,’ said Pavel Janouškovec, MERO ČR Operations Technologist.
Foto
During the tour of the Gruben pumping station of the Transalpinen Ölleitung in Österreich GmbH, from left: Manuel Goller | TAL, Markus Thuswaldner | TAL, Alessio Lilli | CEO of the TAL Group, Pavel Janouškovec | MERO ČR, Jan Udržal, Secretary of the Special Representative for Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Markus Mühlmann | TAL, Sebastian Hohmann | TAL.