Enbridge's collaboration with Microsoft will focus on improvements to the midstream company’s operational efficiency, safety and emissions reduction. (Source: Shutterstock)
Enbridge (ENB) announced an ongoing collaboration with Microsoft on Oct. 7 that will continue focusing on improvements to the midstream company’s operational efficiency, safety and emissions reductions.
According to the announcement, Enbridge started to focus on digital transformation in 2020, moving more than 80% of the company’s software workload to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform by 2022. Enbridge was able to enhance its computing capabilities while reducing emissions by retiring many of the company’s server systems.
"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.
Enbridge will focus on three Microsoft AI tools to improve future operations. The Energy Optimizer application gives control center operators insight into the most efficient means to transport product.
“Our computing power is allowing us to come up with the best possible solution, at multiple times during the day,” Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said during a podcast hosted by GZERO on Oct. 3.
Other AI tools will focus on keeping the system online.
The Right of Way Monitoring tool improves network monitoring capabilities. Enbridge currently relies on aerial surveillance to track harmful conditions or loss of containment. AI allows for faster response times with more data tracking, the company said.
Enbridge is also using an Integrity Engine tool for the company to track pipeline structural problems and enable faster and more effective maintenance.
The company embraced AI as its operation expands into utilities. Enbridge announced Oct. 1 that company had closed on its purchase of Dominion Energy in North Carolina. The deal makes Enbridge the largest natural gas utility in the U.S.
On the GZERO podcast, Ebel said AI has given Enbridge the ability to track and correlate operations at a much higher level.
“Generative AI is really taking a bunch of our data that we’ve had in the past and macroeconomic elements of the current [environment] and the goals of the future and saying ‘OK, based on those factors, at this time of day, at this time of the year, in this place, maybe, Enbridge, you should use renewable power to move your pump stations that move oil that is going downstream to serve a chip factory that is going to allow a data center to operate to give you even more ideas,” Ebel said.
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