WORLD WIND ENERGY NET

Giving a fillip to the alternate energy sources of the Kingdom, its biggest wind turbines embedded in the iconic 50-floor Bahrain World Trade Centre twin towers are ready to whirr shortly.

The building comprises two 50-storey sail-shaped towers, which taper to a height of 240 metres and support three 29-metre diametre horizontal-axis wind turbines. The elliptical shaped towers act as aerofoils, funnelling and accelerating the wind velocity between them exploiting the unobstructed prevailing onshore breeze from the adjacent Gulf coast, to provide a renewable source of energy for the building.

The turbines are expected to generate roughly 11 per cent to 15 per cent of the twin towers' total energy needs or 1100 to 1300 megawatt-hours per year - equivalent to lighting 200 to 250 homes for an entire year. "Architecturally, the building explores new territory by integrating large-scale wind turbines within the structure, which will start generating electricity very soon," officials said.

The Bahrain World Trade Centre last month announced that the internal work on all the 50 floors was completed and the building was scheduled to open in January 2008.

Impressed by the environmentally-sound energy provision being made with the largest-ever integration of wind turbines into a building, a World Bank delegation visited the BWTC to learn how the turbines would provide a viable source of alternative energy to the Kingdom's leading mixed-use commercial development.

"One of the overriding aims set out at the master planning stage of the BWTC project was to make the towers' design and function environmentally-responsible. Being the world leader in the use of wind turbine power is setting a global standard, one which we are sure will provide the momentum for other projects in the Gulf region and beyond," said Simha Lytherao, Senior Project Manager of ATKINS Middle East, the architects of the project.
Corporate residents of BWTC will benefit from the renewable energy created by the turbines and a number of other environmentally-sound solutions incorporated in the building which combines the essential elements of business and leisure with cutting-edge corporate offices and business facilities.

"We consider the BWTC to be a particularly inspirational project as, being based in an oil-rich region, it has taken a proactive stance which is sending a strong message to the world that Bahrain is willing to tackle the issues of limited conventional energy supplies," said Hossein Razavi, World Bank Director, Technical Cooperation Department MENA region, during the visit.

Further, each floor comes with advantage of the Kingdom's first intelligent offices employing the latest SMART systems capable of delivering unsurpassed security and maximum efficiency in office management besides pruned down energy costs.

The towers also include a full service business centre, a shopping mall, fine dining restaurants, cafes, health spa and a five-star hotel, all supported by extensive parking facilities.