w renewables

Tower
of
power
The towers and turbines
were inspired by
traditional Arabian
wind towers which
harness the wind
energy from the
onshore breeze

Bahrain’s World Trade Centre

heralds green skyscrapers

Fast nearing completion in the heart of Bahrain is a dramatic

building which will become the world’s first large-scale
integration of wind turbines and a skyscraper.
The $93 million Bahrain World Trade Centre project involves
two 50-storey, sail-shaped office towers - each 240 metres high
- supporting three 29 metre diameter horizontal axis wind
turbines.
“The towers and turbines were inspired by traditional
Arabian wind towers which harness the wind energy from
the onshore breeze,” said Shaun Killa, of the architects of the
landmark towers, WS Atkins.
The wind turbines will work by harnessing the offshore
breeze and providing a substantial source of renewable
energy. This is predicted to be around 11-15% of the
building’s annual energy requirements.
Each turbine will generate between 1,100 and 1,300
megawatt hours per year. In carbon emission terms
this equates to an average of 55,000 kgC.
The towers will act as aerofoils, funnelling the
visualization muharroqi-studio

breeze between them. The vertical sculpting of

the towers is also a function of airflow dynamics,
maintaining a near equal wind velocity on each
of the three turbines for optimal operation and
energy yield.
The designers used wind tunnel testing
and computational fluid dynamic modelling
to confirm the wind stream remains nearly
perpendicular to the turbine even if the
wind direction deviates up to 45 degrees
either side of the central axis. This
increases the turbines’
potential to generate power

32 Future Fuels July 2006

 renewables w

while reducing fatigue on the blades.

The project has been described as “blue sky thinking”
and WS Atkins said: “With this building our client wants to
demonstrate Bahrain’s commitment to reducing demands
on fossil fuel energy reserves.
“The complexity of integrating large-scale wind turbines
into a building is not to be underestimated and the
knowledge and experience we gain from this project can be
shared with designers around the world.
“We believe that this building will be a significant
influence on urban design and architecture for desert
climates, instigating a shift towards a more sustainable
mindset.”
The three wind turbines are being installed on 65-tonne
bridges. Conventional bridge bearings including single-

Turbine power
point bearings and rolling bearings transfer the load of the
bridges to the building structure.
The frequency responses of the bridges, turbines and
blades have been taken into account in the design to

mitigate transmission of noise and vibration to the building.
The speed of the blades has been lowered to an optimum
level compared to standard wind turbines. In addition, the
sound insulation of the cladding adjacent to the line of the
blades has been beefed up and the thickness of the glass
near the wind turbines has also been increased.
As well as producing some of its own energy, the trade
centre is the first project in Bahrain to procure a district
cooling system. Chilled water will be pumped through the
air conditioning system from an underground network of
piping from Tabreed’s new facility.
The towers themselves are positioned on top of a three-
storey sculpted podium and basement, encompassing a
shopping centre, restaurants, business centres and car
parking.
The trade centre is also a “smart” building incorporating
the latest intelligent office technology with a number of
systems that have yet to be implemented in Bahrain and
some that will be a first worldwide.
For example, it will also be equipped with a structured
cabling system that integrates smart features including
all forms of surveillance, data, energy and other operating
systems.
Security features include the latest in closed circuit
television surveillance and monitoring, automated access
for tenants to common areas, parking facilities and
individual floors as well as the latest warning and response
systems. The building will also provide tenants with crisis
management, disaster recovery and business continuity
services.
“The building’s smart features will set a new precedent
both here in Bahrain and across the region,” said Claire
Hughes, associate director of leasing and management
agents, DTZ Bahrain.
For more details, visit www.bahrainwtc.com
Supergrid
Ireland’s Airtricity has announced the creation of a
pan European sub-sea energy grid, called Supergrid,
which will link a series of offshore wind farms from
the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay, Atlantic,
North Sea and Baltic Sea.
The Supergrid is designed to carry energy generated
by wind turbines to suppliers and act as a transmission
network to deliver electricity around Europe, making its
power markets more efficient at energy trading.
Airtricity and its technology experts, ABB, began work
on the Supergrid in September last year with the aim
of designing a high-voltage AC/DC power network to
link national grids and deliver power from offshore wind
farms.
The scale of this undertaking means that, when fully
operational, Europe will have access to wind energy
at all times because the wind will always be blowing
somewhere on the grid.
Airtricity last month also announced a $28 billion,
10 gigawatt offshore wind energy foundation project
in the North Sea between the UK, Germany and the
Netherlands – the largest offshore wind farm proposed for
European waters which could power eight million homes.
Airtricity’s Chief Executive, Eddie O’Connor, said:
“Europe needs a reliable, secure and environmentally
friendly energy supply. Supergrid and the 10 gigawatt
foundation project are practically and symbolically
significant proposals and release to Europe its most
abundant primary energy resource.”

Future Fuels July 2006 33