Assets
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The Enbridge Income Fund is underpinned by a 50% interest in the Alliance Canada Pipeline ("Alliance Canada"), a 100% interest in Enbridge Pipelines (Saskatchewan) Inc. ("Saskatchewan System") and Green Power assets which include a 50% interest in NRGreen and interests in three wind power projects in Western Canada.
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Alliance Canada
Alliance Canada is the Fund's flagship asset. It is the Canadian portion of the larger Alliance System which is comprised of two principal assets: the Alliance Canada Pipeline and the Alliance USA Pipeline. The Alliance System consists of an approximately 3,000-kilometre integrated, high-pressure, natural gas mainline pipeline, a series of lateral pipelines located in Canada, and related infrastructure.
For its part, the Alliance Canada Pipeline consists of 1,560 kilometres of the Alliance System's mainline beginning near Gordondale, Alberta and connecting to the Alliance USA Pipeline at the Canada/US border near Carnduff, Saskatchewan. In addition, the Alliance Canada Pipeline includes the Alliance System's lateral pipelines which connect the mainline to a number of upstream receipt points, primarily at natural gas processing facilities in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, and related infrastructure.
The Alliance System is designed to transport 1.325 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, on a firm transportation basis, from supply areas in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia to delivery points near Chicago, Illinois. It connects with two local natural gas distribution systems and five interstate natural gas pipelines in the Chicago area which provides shippers with access to markets in the midwestern and northeastern United States, Eastern Canada and access to the Aux Sable Extraction Facility which extracts natural gas liquids from the natural gas transported by the Alliance System. Shippers can transport in excess of their daily contract demand thereby reducing the per unit fixed transportation charge.
Shippers have executed transportation service agreements (TSAs) with each of Alliance Canada and Alliance US, which have an initial 15-year term expiring in November 2015 and provide for 98.5% of the Alliance System's available firm transportation capacity. The TSAs are designed to provide Alliance Canada with a steady and predictable cash flow stream through 2015. Additional transportation capacity is available to shippers for no additional cost other than the cost of the associated fuel requirements through Alliance Canada's AOS. Beginning in December 2010, each TSA may be renewed on five years notice for successive one-year terms, beyond the initial 15-year term, at the option of the shipper. The remaiing 1.5% (20 mmcf/d) of firm capacity has been contracted on a short-term basis to March 2010. ^ top of page
The Saskatchewan System
Enbridge Saskatchewan owns and operates crude oil and liquids pipeline systems comprised of four principal assets: (i) the Saskatchewan Gathering System; (ii) the Westspur System; (iii) the Weyburn System; and (iv) the Virden System. Collectively, these crude oil and liquids pipeline systems comprise approximately 356 km of trunk line and approximately 1,900 km of crude oil and liquids gathering system pipeline and related terminals and storage facilities. Deliveries from the Saskatchewan Gathering System and Weyburn System are received into the Westspur System and, as such, are subject to any constraints in capacity on the Westspur System. Capacity figures presented below represent capacity to accept and deliver crude oil assuming there are no Westspur System capacity constraints.
The Saskatchewan Gathering System was built in 1955. It is a gathering system located in Southeastern Saskatchewan that transports crude oil from producing fields to the Westspur System. The Saskatchewan Gathering System consists of approximately 1,600 km of gathering lines ranging in diameters from three inches to ten inches. The Saskatchewan Gathering System has nine storage tanks with a combined capacity of 36,000 barrels. The capacity of the Saskatchewan Gathering System is approximately 255,000 bpd.
The Westspur System was also built in 1955. It is a trunkline system located in Southeastern Saskatchewan that transports crude oil received from gathering systems and from truck shipments, and natural gas liquids received from the Steelman gas processing plant. The crude oil and natural gas liquids are transported via the Westspur System to Cromer, Manitoba and from there to Eastern Canada and the United States via connecting pipeline systems. The Westspur System has transported crude oil south to the United States border for subsequent transportation on a system in North Dakota owned by Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. to Clearbrook, Minnesota and the Minnesota Pipeline. However, this line was idled in 2006 because of prorationing on the North Dakota line due to the increase in production of U.S. domestic crude oil. On a periodic basis, the Westspur System also transports crude oil to the United States' border for subsequent transportation to the Tesoro Mandan Refinery in North Dakota.
The Westspur System consists of approximately 357 km of 12 and 16-inch trunk line and approximately 100 km of gathering lines ranging in diameters from four inches to eight inches. The Westspur System has four pumping stations near Midale, Steelman, Bryant and Alida, Saskatchewan with a total of 10 storage tanks with a combined capacity of 340,000 barrels. The capacity of the Westspur System is approximately 255,000 bpd.
The Weyburn System was built in 1957. This system is a gathering system located immediately to the west of the Westspur System and delivers crude oil from producing fields to the Westspur Midale pumping station. The Weyburn System consists of approximately 100 km of gathering lines ranging in diameters from three inches to twelve inches and two storage tanks located at Weyburn with a combined capacity of 47,000 barrels. The capacity of the Weyburn System is approximately 47,000 bpd.
The Virden System was built in 1955. It is a gathering system located in Southwestern Manitoba and delivers crude oil from producing fields to Cromer, Manitoba. From there, the crude oil is delivered to Eastern Canada and the United States via connecting pipeline systems. The Virden System consists of approximately 100 km of gathering lines ranging in diameters from three inches to six inches. In addition, the Virden System includes a truck unloading terminal located at Cromer. The terminal has two storage tanks with a combined capacity of 2,000 barrels. The capacity of the Virden System is approximately 37,000 bpd.
Green Power
Green Power includes a 50% interest in NRGreen; a 50% interest in the SunBridge Wind Power Project (SunBridge) formed under the Partnership Act (Alberta) on April 1, 2001; and a 33% interest in each of the Magrath and Chin Chute Wind Power Projects, with joint venture agreements effective June 12, 2003 and July 20, 2005, respectively. These entities produce electricity via renewable and alternative energy sources.
Wind Power Assets
SunBridge is located approximately five km southeast of Gull Lake in southwest Saskatchewan and began commercial operations in 2002. SunBridge utilizes a fleet of 17 turbines with a total capacity of 11 MW. The power from Sunbridge is delivered into the Saskatchewan power grid and is sold to Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower) under a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which expires in 2022. Enbridge and its subsidiaries provide operational support to this project.
The Magrath wind power project is located approximately seven km southwest of Magrath in southern Alberta and began commercial operations in 2004. The Magrath wind farm utilizes 20 turbines (1.5 MW each) with a total capacity of 30 MW and is operated by Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc.
The Chin Chute wind power project began commercial operations on October 31, 2006 and is located approximately 20 km southwest of Taber, Alberta. The Chin Chute wind farm utilizes 20 turbines (1.5 MW each) with a total capacity of 30 MW and is operated by Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc.
The energy produced at Magrath and Chin Chute is delivered into the Alberta power grid. The Fund has entered into long-term agreements to substantially fix the price received for its share of production on these projects. The Magrath contract expires on November 30, 2024 while the Chin Chute contract expires on December 31, 2017.
NRGreen
NRGreen operates four non-regulated waste heat recovery facilities located in Saskatchewan, along the Alliance Pipeline. The first facility located at Kerrobert, Saskatchewan has been operating since December 2006. These facilities began operations in May, July and November of 2008, respectively. Electricity is generated by harnessing the waste heat produced by Alliance Canada's gas turbines at its compressor stations and converting it to electrical energy. With four waste heat recovery facilities in operation, NRGreen's facilities can generate 20 MW of power.
SaskPower purchases the power generated from all four of the NRGreen facilities. The PPAs expire ten years after the in-service date for each facility. However, each PPA permits two five-year renewal notices at NRGreen's election. These may be renewed successively to provide an additional ten-year extension to the initial PPA.
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