Environmental GRI Performance Indicators
EN6 – Initiatives to provide energy-efficient or renewable energy based products and services, and reductions in energy requirements as a result of these initiatives.
Enbridge believes in doing our part to contribute to a sustainable future. That’s why we invest in renewable and alternative energy sources that complement our core operations and provide environmental benefits – such as helping reduce GHG emissions and addressing the issue of global climate change.
Wind Power
Enbridge is involved in four wind power projects in Canada. We own three of these through our sponsored investment, Enbridge Income Fund. Enbridge Inc. owns, and is constructing, the fourth in Ontario. Together, these projects have a combined capacity of more than 260 megawatts, which is enough electricity to meet the power requirements of about 100,000 homes.
Wind-generated electricity is the fastest-growing sector of electricity generation in North America, as substantial technological advances and government incentives have enabled wind power projects to become economically attractive investments.
As of mid-2008, Enbridge’s investments, along with those of our joint-venture partners, represented about 3.8 per cent of Canada’s installed wind power capacity.
SunBridge and Magrath wind power
In a partnership with Suncor Energy, Enbridge Income Fund owns 50 per cent of the Enbridge-operated 11 megawatts SunBridge wind power project near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
Enbridge Income Fund, Suncor Energy and ACCIONA Energy are equal partners in the 30-megawatt Magrath wind power project, located southwest of Lethbridge, Alberta. Enbridge has contracted under a 20-year agreement to purchase one-third of the project’s output to supply power to our Alberta pipeline system. A long-term contract of this type reduces the risks associated with the wind project and provides our pipelines with a source of electricity at a stable price.
The Chin Chute wind power project
In 2006, Enbridge, in partnership with Suncor Energy and ACCIONA, opened the 30-megawatt Chin Chute wind power plant, located west of Taber in southern Alberta. Enbridge Income Fund owns a one-third interest in the $60-million project. Chin Chute is operated by Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Spain’s ACCIONA group.
Like the Magrath project, Chin Chute consists of 20 1.5-megawatt wind turbines that use advanced wind power technology to combine high electrical output, low noise levels and a small footprint on the land.
Chin Chute is producing enough zero-emission electricity to power 14,000 Alberta homes and displace the equivalent of 88,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – equal to taking about 13,000 vehicles off the road. With the Chin Chute project, Enbridge Income Fund’s share of electrical capacity from its three wind power plants is 25.6 megawatts.
The Ontario Wind Power project
In 2005, Enbridge was the successful bidder for two contiguous wind-power contracts with the Ontario Power Authority.
Enbridge owns a 100-per-cent working interest in the $400-million Ontario Wind Power project that will build 115 wind turbine generators on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Bruce County, Ontario. The project will contribute about 190 megawatts of emissions-free energy to Ontario’s grid. Enbridge expects to begin commercial operations in 2008.
We have executed a 20-year electricity purchase agreement with the Ontario Power Authority for all of the power produced by the project, which will be enough renewable energy to supply approximately 63,000 homes and reduce GHG emissions equivalent to taking about 30,000 vehicles off the road.
Fuel Cells
Enbridge is demonstrating that new alternative supplies of electricity do not need to take up a lot of space to improve the environment.
Three structures now under construction in the parking lot at Enbridge Gas Distribution’s Toronto headquarters will soon house a fuel cell innovation that is also a global first – the Direct FuelCell®-Energy Recovery Generation (DFC®-ERG) Power Plant. This leading-edge natural gas hybrid fuel cell pilot plant has a low visual profile and takes up only 20 parking spaces at the back of the parking lot. The power plant will eventually produce 2.2 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to service approximately 1,750 residences.
Enbridge has worked closely with government and other industry stakeholders since 2004 to develop this technology. For the pilot plant, we partnered with FuelCell Energy Inc. to develop a technology that would produce clean electricity from energy that is recovered from our natural gas pipeline systems. Currently, we can recover between 40 to 60 megawatts of electricity from our systems, which is enough to meet the needs of approximately 30,000 homes.
This innovative energy supply can equal the environmental benefits and emission reductions offered by many renewable technologies. Once the pilot plant is built, we plan to replicate it throughout our pipeline network in Ontario, and market the DFC®-ERG to other natural gas pipeline companies throughout North America.
Phase One, which was commissioned in January 2008, uses a turbo expander to produce electricity as a byproduct of our day-to-day pipeline operations. This is already a proven technology, similar to that of a wind-turbine operation. Simply put, natural gas is normally transported across long distances at very high pressures. In order to safely distribute this gas to homes and businesses, natural gas utilities need to reduce its pressure. They typically accomplish this by squeezing the gas through a valve. With this project, the natural gas passes through a turbine, which rotates a generator. That generator converts the pressure energy of the natural gas into electricity and the natural gas continues to flow to homes and businesses at a safe reduced pressure.
Phase Two, scheduled to be operational later in 2008, will integrate the stationary fuel cell technology with the turbo expander to increase the environmental benefits. A chemical reaction will first convert natural gas to hydrogen, and then convert that hydrogen into additional electricity and heat energy.
The heat energy produced will reduce emissions from our existing boiler systems. The fuel cell achieves near-zero smog emissions by operating without combustion, and is so efficient that less GHG emissions are generated when compared to combustion-based power plants. The power plant’s only other byproduct is water vapour.
The environmental benefits of fuel cells are already recognized and gaining acceptance in California, the northeastern U.S., Asia and Europe. At the same time, turbo expanders are already safely producing clean electricity in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The combination of these two technologies represents a global first. They are also a tremendous example of how new technologies can increase the already significant environmental benefits linked to the use of clean natural gas.