Case Study: Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center

Originally published in Enbridge's 2022 Sustainability Report

In September 2021, Enbridge announced the acquisition of a 100% operating interest in the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC), a state-of-the-art shipping facility near Corpus Christi, Texas. The facility is North America’s largest crude export terminal, and loaded 25% of all U.S. Gulf Coast crude exports in 2020. Building on this investment in conventional energy export capacity, in 2022, Enbridge advanced steps to align this important facility with our ambitions for a net-zero future.

Investing for the transition

EIEC is an example of how we’re evaluating investments with a view to both emissions reduction and tomorrow’s energy markets. Before acquiring the facility, we considered its resiliency to a range of energy transition scenarios, taking into account the EIEC’s potential to produce and ship lower-carbon fuels—and to achieve net-zero operational emissions. While the facility’s primary function today is grounded in global demand for conventional fuel, we invested based on our confidence that the EIEC could evolve alongside our own strategic priorities as well as changes in global energy needs.

Seizing the low-carbon opportunity at Ingleside

In May 2022, just eight months after the acquisition of Ingleside, we announced the development of an ultra-low carbon, utility-scale energy production facility to supply hydrogen and ammonia to U.S. and global markets. Although some carbon dioxide is generated in these production processes, newly developed carbon capture infrastructure, including at facilities owned and operated by Enbridge, will sequester 95% of emissions. This sequestration capacity, combined with the fact that hydrogen and ammonia have zero CO2 emissions at the point of use, makes this EIEC energy supply highly sustainable.

Bringing sustainable power and efficiency to the shipping facility

Built in 2018 to industry-leading environmental standards to minimize its own carbon emissions, the EIEC is an advanced crude export terminal, capable of servicing very large crude carriers (VLCCs) efficiently and cost-effectively. In keeping with Enbridge’s program of lowering emissions across every part of our operations—including in the transport of conventional fuels—we are working to build a solar power project capacity at the site, making it one of the most sustainable export facilities in North America. We expect to be able to generate up to 60 MW of renewable power on the available land around the terminal, exceeding the facility’s own power needs and creating the opportunity to offer renewable power to nearby industrial and refining facilities, while achieving a robust return on our investments.

Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center is a good example of how Enbridge is leveraging existing conventional energy assets and capabilities to extend growth and capitalize on low-carbon opportunities in the energy transition.

Colin Gruending, 
Enbridge Executive Vice President and President, Liquids Pipelines

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