Czech state-owned Mero selects equipment suppliers for TAL pipeline expansion, work to begin in summer

State-owned company Mero has selected suppliers of technology and components for the planned expansion of the capacity of the European TAL oil pipeline. They will supply modern pumps and other equipment. The first installations are scheduled for July next year. Mero told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. The company did not name the suppliers. The project, worth approximately 1.6 billion crowns, is expected to increase capacity for Czechia by four million tonnes of oil per year from 2025, making it possible to transport up to eight million tonnes a year to the country by pipeline. This should make the Czech Republic independent of Russian oil.

The TAL pipeline carries oil from Trieste in Italy to Ingolstadt in Bavaria, from where it continues to Czechia via the IKL pipeline. Czechia currently also receives some of its oil via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia.

„Work on the TAL-Plus project is in full swing, we are rigorously adhering to the schedule of activities, and the plan remains for Czechia to be independent of Russian oil from 2025. We have now successfully tendered for and signed contracts with suppliers of the key technologies and components that will allow us to increase the capacity of the TAL pipeline,“ said Jaroslav Pantůček, chairman of Mero’s board.

In particular, the selection covers modern pumps that will transport oil from Trieste across the Alps to Germany. According to Pantůček, their power will be comparable to that of electric locomotives. The company has also selected suppliers of flow meters, frequency converters and safety relief valves, technologies that are important for ensuring the reliable operation of the pipeline. The first installations and modifications directly on the TAL pipeline are scheduled for July next year and will continue until the end of 2024.

„We are also working on the engineering preparations for all the necessary pipeline modifications and construction work. This includes, for example, building concrete foundations, roofing and electrical installations. The Central Crude Oil Tank Farm in Nelahozeves will also need technological upgrades,“ Pantůček noted.

After its expansion, the TAL pipeline is expected to become one of the highest-capacity pipelines in Europe, according to Mero. Technological upgrades to the pipeline will be carried out in Italy, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. TAL begins in Trieste, where oil arrives from a number of countries and continents. The largest share comes from areas around the Caspian and Black Seas, the US and Africa. Mero has owned a five-percent stake in the TAL pipeline since 2012. Mero will cover the cost of expanding the pipeline.

In 2022, 7.4 million tonnes of oil flowed into refineries in Czechia, 56 percent of it from Russia. The IKL pipeline from Germany, which connects to the TAL pipeline, supplies another portion of Czechia’s oil imports. IKL can transport up to 11 million tonnes of oil a year, but current capacity utilisation of the TAL pipeline does not allow it to be used to that extent.

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