In 2017, we invested about $22.5 million in technology development and innovation projects.
Highlights in our pipeline businesses include:
To improve the operational reliability of our wind power projects, our Power Operations group carried out a number of pilot programs in 2017:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Investment amounts in R&D and Innovation | ~$12,155,000 | ~$18,335,000 | $22,500,000 |
For more information, please visit the Innovation page on enbridge.com.
Using energy more efficiently: Our gas distribution utilities―Enbridge Gas Distribution (EGD) and Union Gas―are advancing innovative technologies and investing in research initiatives as well as demonstration projects to support their demand-side management (DSM) programs and additional incremental integrated energy solutions to help their customers improve energy efficiency, reduce GHG emissions and save money.
Current initiatives, undertaken directly as well as through collaboration and partnerships with other utilities, universities, governments and manufacturers, include:
For more information on our DSM programs, please see the Climate Change, Emissions Reduction & Energy Efficiency section of this report.
Generating clean energy: Enbridge supports a number of initiatives related to emerging technologies, focusing on: compressed natural gas (CNG); renewable natural gas (RNG); and geothermal energy for heating residential homes.
For more information on our renewable natural gas programs, please see the Renewable & Low Carbon Energy and Environmental Management Systems sections of this report.
Our gas distribution utilities are also working to identify and promote viable new technologies that are energy efficient and contribute to reduced emissions and improve clean energy. For example, Enbridge has partnered with Hydrogenics to pursue construction of a power-to-gas (P2G) plant, and initiating engineering studies for hydrogen blending. This P2G technology has the potential to become an important link between Ontario’s electricity and natural gas systems.
In addition, Enbridge is supporting hydrogen research and development through committees of the Canadian Gas Association and the American Gas Association, as well as through the HYREADY joint industry project. HYREADY is a consortium of 11 European and North American natural gas distribution companies that is developing practical processes and procedures for introducing hydrogen produced from renewable sources into natural gas pipeline networks.
We continue to shape industry best practices and technology development through our involvement in various R&D-related industry associations and initiatives. As part of our commitment to improving pipeline safety, we are collaborating with other pipeline operators to evaluate best-in-class external leak detection technologies.
We also actively advance R&D and technology innovation through a number of industry research organizations, including:
Every year we conduct a significant number of pipeline inspections using sophisticated in-line inspection tools that incorporate leading imaging and sensor technology. These tools are capable of scanning for features that could indicate potential problems related to corrosion, cracking, mechanical damage, deformation, or manufacturing or construction defects.
To further strengthen this monitoring, Enbridge’s teams of in-line inspection (ILI) analysts use a process called enhanced survey analysis (ESA) to assess all of the pipeline features our ILI tools have identified―even ones the tools have defined as ‘non-critical’. Through ESA, our ILI-analysis teams conduct a series of data checks and joint-by-joint evaluations of new ILI data. This includes comparing the new data to previous inspection results to identify areas of corrosion growth. They also review non-corrosion anomalies to determine if further evaluation is needed.
Through their rigorous analysis, our ILI analysts provide us with a second line of defense in our efforts to ensure the integrity of our pipelines systems—enabling us to pinpoint potential trouble spots that our ILI tools initially defined as non-critical and then carry out field inspections and remediate any features that could lead to a pipeline failure.
Over the past several years, the North American pipeline industry has experienced several failures of girth welds, which join two sections of pipe along their circumference, on recently constructed pipelines that use high-strength X-70 steel pipe. These failures have been characterized by localized strain at or near the girth welds. Some of the failures have been discovered during hydrostatic pressure testing, which the industry uses to test new and existing pipelines. (Hydrostatic testing involves filling sections of pipe with water to a high pressure and maintaining the pressure for a prescribed period of time to confirm the integrity of the pipeline.)
To address this girth-weld issue, Enbridge’s Gas Transmission and Midstream business segment has organized a joint industry project―titled Enhanced Strength and Strain Capacity of X-70 Pipeline Girth Welds―to investigate and mitigate the conditions contributing to these pipeline failures.
Enbridge is leading the $1-million project, which is collaboratively funded by a consortium of 20 pipeline operators, pipe manufacturers and steel producers. Linepipe steel composition and mechanical properties will be investigated, as well as enhancements to field welding practices. The two-year program is scheduled for completion in 2019.