Czech energy group ČEZ to build up to seven CHP units in Italy alongside expanded TAL pipeline

Energy company ČEZ will build up to seven gas-fired CHP units in northern Italy, located alongside the route of the TAL oil pipeline. Work to expand its capacity will begin next year, increasing oil deliveries from the Italian port of Trieste to the Czech Republic. The CHP units will generate electricity and heat to improve the efficiency of the pipeline’s pumps and enhance the properties of the oil being transported. The ČEZ Group told the Czech News Agency (CTK) today. The pipeline expansion is expected to be completed in 2025. This should allow the Czech Republic to end its dependence on oil supplies from Russia.

ČEZ is expected to build the CHP units—facilities that generate electricity and heat simultaneously—in the coming months, with a total capacity of 26 megawatts. Two other CHP units near Trieste are already in operation. The electricity generated will power the pumps that move oil through the pipeline, while the heat will be used to warm the oil, improving its flow through the pipeline and making it easier to transport.

The CHP units will be operated by a joint venture between Italian company EnerProject and Elevion Group, a ČEZ subsidiary focused on providing modern energy services in Central Europe. According to the company, the units should be capable of starting operations quickly and will form part of new support infrastructure for the TAL pipeline.

“Thanks to the proactive approach of our Elevion Group subsidiary, we will provide the TAL pipeline’s pumps with the necessary power from CHP units within a few months. Two units located right by the port of Trieste are already in operation, and we are gradually building the remaining ones along the pipeline route towards the Austrian border,” ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš said.

The TAL pipeline transports oil from the Italian port of Trieste to Ingolstadt in Bavaria, from where it continues to the Czech Republic via the IKL pipeline. State-owned company Mero began preparations for the TAL pipeline expansion this year. The project, costing approximately CZK 1.6 billion, is expected to increase capacity for the Czech Republic by four million tonnes of oil a year from 2025, enabling up to eight million tonnes to be delivered to the country annually through the pipeline. This should make the Czech Republic independent of Russian oil. The country currently receives more than half of its oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) praised ČEZ’s involvement in the technical planning for the pipeline expansion. Securing sufficient oil supplies is, he said, another step towards strengthening energy security. “Thanks to our negotiations, coordinated action within the EU and the proactive approach of Mero, we believe that by the end of next year at the latest we will be completely independent of oil supplies from Russia,” the prime minister added. According to Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (STAN), the project is crucial to ending energy dependence on Russia.

Work on expanding the pipeline is progressing according to schedule, Mero CEO Jaroslav Pantůček said. “We have now selected suppliers for the key components that will increase the capacity of the TAL pipeline. Technical modifications lie ahead along the pipeline route, with no precedent in TAL’s history. We are also planning major technical changes at the Central Oil Storage Facility in Nelahozeves,” he said.