The Ingolstadt–Kralupy–Litvínov pipeline (also known as IKL pipeline and MERO pipeline) is a crude oil
pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
in
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
. It facilitates the transport of
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
from Germany to the Czech oil
refineries
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.
Types of refineries
Different types of refineries ar ...
of
Kralupy and
Litvínov
Litvínov (; german: Leutensdorf) is a town in Most District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It is known as an industrial centre.
Administrative parts
Litvínov is made up of 12 town parts an ...
. The name of the Ingolstadt–Kralupy–Litvínov pipeline is misleading, as the pipeline does not start in
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...
and does not run to Kralupy and Litvínov.
[
]
History
Negotiations to construct the Ingolstadt–Kralupy–Litvínov pipeline started in October 1990 and were concluded in 1992.[ Originally, the pipeline was planned to run from Ingolstadt to Litvínov, but the route was changed to run from ]Vohburg
Vohburg (Central Bavarian: ''Vohbuag an da Doana'') is a town in the district of Pfaffenhofen, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, 14 km east of Ingolstadt.
Famous persons
*Bertha of Vohburg
*Diepold III of ...
to Nelahozeves
Nelahozeves is a municipality and village in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. It is known for the Nelahozeves Castle and as the birthplace of Antonín Dvořák, who is one of ...
. However, the original name of the pipeline was kept.[
]
Construction of the pipeline started on 1 September 1994 and was completed in December 2005. It was inaugurated on 13 March 1996.[ It is the main pipeline in the Czech Republic allowing oil supplies other than those of Russian origin. In 2003, the pipeline was modernized by improving remote control systems and increasing capacity.][
]
Route
The pipeline starts from Vohburg in Germany, where it is connected with the Transalpine Pipeline
The Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) is a crude oil pipeline, which connects Italy, Austria and Germany.
History
The feasibility study of the pipeline was carried out by Bechtel in 1963. The pipeline was commissioned in 1967. This time, the constru ...
, and ends at the oil depot
An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these products are transported to end users or other stora ...
in Nelahozeves near Prague in the Czech Republic. The German section of the pipeline is and the Czech section is long.[
]
Technical description
The pipeline has a diameter of , and the pressure varies from in Vohburg to in Nelahozeves. The capacity of the pipeline is around ten million tonnes per year, of which normally 30% is in use.[ The additional capacity is reserved for securing oil supplies in case of disruption of Russian supplies through the ]Druzhba pipeline
The Druzhba pipeline (russian: нефтепровод «Дружба»; also has been referred to as the Friendship Pipeline and the Comecon Pipeline) is one of the world's longest oil pipelines and one of the largest oil pipeline networks in th ...
, as happened in July 2008.[
] The control center, which controls the whole pipeline, is located in Vohburg. The backup control center is located in Nelahozeves.[
The tank farm in Vohburg consists of four tanks, with a total capacity of .][ The tank farm in Nelahozeves, serving the IKL and Druzhba pipelines, consists of sixteen tanks with a total capacity of .]
Operating company
The pipeline is operated by MERO Pipeline GmbH.[
]
See also
* Energy in the Czech Republic
Energy in the Czech Republic describes World energy resources and consumption, energy and Electricity generation, electricity production, consumption and import in the Czech Republic.
Overview
Primary energy consumption per million people in 2 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingolstadt-Kralupy-Litvinov pipeline
Energy infrastructure completed in 1996
Oil pipelines in the Czech Republic
Oil pipelines in Germany
Czech Republic–Germany relations