Europe's most important oil pipeline uses an energy recovery plant which produces about 12% of the Austrian TAL pump stations' energy consumption.
The plant is extremely vulnerable to lightning strikes due to its location in the mountains, where the ground is stony and the soil resistivity poor. Therefore, a holistic view was taken of the lightning protection and the protection of the sensitive terminal devices.
The lightning protection concept comprises isolated external lightning protection using HVI technology, a closed meshed earthing system, meshed equipotential bonding and surge protection for the power supply, measuring, control and regulation (MSR) technology, and the telecontrol system.