Enbridge, in collaboration with Microsoft, announced it will utilize AI in an effort to drive advancements in safety, emissions reduction, and asset optimization across its operations.
The company began implementing AI more than five years ago and is now leveraging the technology to support operational and environmental goals.
Key examples of the initiative include:
Energy Optimizer
- The Energy Optimizer tool leverages AI to provide real-time operational insights, which is meant to help control center operators make decisions about how to move the energy Enbridge transports in more efficient ways. By managing the amount of power required, Enbridge claims it can achieve cost savings and GHG reductions while ensuring the safe and reliable operations of its liquid pipelines.
Right of way monitoring
- Enbridge utilizes aerial surveillance to patrol its pipelines, detecting potentially damaging activities, conditions, or loss of containment. With AI, the company says it can now monitor the right of way more efficiently, reviewing data and detecting issues quicker and more accurately, reducing the risk of third-party damage.
Integrity Engine
- Enbridge employs intelligent automation for pipeline integrity, using AI to identify potential maintenance needs. Through workflow automation, data controls, advanced analysis, and machine learning models, the company said it now gains new insights for asset maintenance, enhancing safety and efficiency while reducing process complexity and maintaining the health of our assets.
“Our long-term collaboration with Microsoft has enabled us to apply cutting-edge technology, which is helping to solve critical business problems and deliver powerful outcomes,” said Bhushan Ivaturi, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Enbridge. “The investments we’re making today will play a critical role in enabling technological solutions to the biggest challenges in the evolution of our energy systems as we transition to a lower-carbon future.”
Enbridge began a “digital transformation” in 2020 to drive productivity and efficiency. At the core of this strategy was a technology foundation enabled by Microsoft.
This led to a cloud migration and modernization program, with over 80% of workloads moved to Microsoft Azure cloud platform within two years, Enbridge said. The company said this initiative enhanced computing, network, and storage capabilities, but also bolstered cybersecurity measures and reduced data center emissions through server decommissioning and a smaller physical facility footprint. Earlier this year, Enbridge rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to nearly one-third of all employees, while the entire workforce has access to Bing Enterprise and ChatENB, an internal chatbot using Azure OpenAI Service.
“The Enbridge leadership team drove a cloud-first strategy, a big bet that opened the door to a broader opportunity that positions Enbridge today to take full advantage of AI,” said Tom Kubik, Enterprise Commercial Multi-Industry Lead at Microsoft Canada. “We are proud of the work we’ve done together and are working towards our common goals of supporting a more connected and collaborative workforce and increasing data and analytics capabilities.”
“Looking forward, we see ongoing opportunities and benefits of AI, in terms of data analytics, asset and process optimization, security, and cost and emissions savings,” said Ivaturi. “At Enbridge, we are enabling the accessibility, sustainability, and security of energy through applied technology and innovation, and our collaboration with Microsoft will continue to play a pivotal role in that.”
