Energy Use

Our Impacts

Our liquids pipeline transportation systems in Canada and the United States primarily use electrical pumps, while our natural gas gathering and transmission systems mainly use natural gas as fuel. In Alberta, 13 per cent of Enbridge’s pipeline electricity requirement is supplied by the Magrath wind power project, in which Enbridge holds a 33.3 per cent share. Our Enbridge Gas Distribution system in Ontario is powered by electricity and natural gas. Diesel fuel and natural gas are used to drive pumps in remote locations along the Enbridge Norman Wells (NW) system in the Northwest Territories.

Our performance

Lower electricity use in Liquids Pipelines

In 2005, electricity use on the Liquids Pipelines system was 2,757 gigawatt hours (9,925 thousand gigajoules), enough power to supply more than 260,000 homes. Energy use on the system was 7.2 per cent lower than 2004 levels while throughput was down 6.4 per cent.

Optimizing natural flow rates for pipelines

As products on our pipelines and power contracts change, we continually review natural flow rates for our liquids pipelines. The rates are designed to optimize pipeline operating pressures to match equipment and the types of crude oil transported. By applying these rates to the pipeline, we expect to lower the high costs of fuel and reduce maintenance.

Managing energy use in Enbridge Gas Distribution

In Enbridge Gas Distribution, we carry out a comprehensive energy management program to minimize electricity use. We build energy efficiency into our various facilities by improving lighting, heating, information technology, and ventilation and cooling systems. At our Toronto headquarters, these efforts have continually lowered our energy consumption despite using the available building space more intensively and adding equipment.

In 2005, we rebuilt the infrastructure of our Data Centre, replaced overhead lighting, and completed other projects that reduced consumption. We installed a new gas-fired standby generator that can allow the building to run independent of the hydro grid in emergencies and can supply power to the grid at peak pricing periods.

Enbridge Gas Distribution and other building owners such as North York General Hospital and Ontario Power Generation cooperate in a program with Toronto Hydro to remotely dispatch generator power when called upon to reduce the possibility of local blackouts.

Our combined energy projects carried out since 1994 resulted in 2005 annual savings of almost 5,000,000 kilowatt hours, enough to meet the requirements of about 500 homes. As compared with 1990, our efforts to date have reduced the building’s energy consumption by 45 per cent, culminating in 2005 in savings of $542,000 in annual electricity costs. We are now paying less for electricity than we did in 1991. The pursuit of a green building is not only an environmentally sound practice, but also results in a better quality building with significantly lower operating cost.