Reduced Carbon Emissions

Once operational the three turbines will generate well over 1000 MWh of electricity per year – enough to supply 11-15% of the energy requirements of the buildings. The wind turbines will also eliminate 55,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Aerodynamic Wind Turbine Design

The towers have been aerodynamically designed and located such that the sea breeze from the Gulf is funneled onto the turbines. Each tower acts as an aerofoil directing and accelerating the winds that hit them.

The clever design – inspired by the Arabian wind towers historically used to cool buildings in The Gulf – means that wind hitting the towers at an angle of up to 45 degrees from perpendicular will be redirected straight onto the wind turbines for maximum power generation.

Norwin and Ramboll

The project developers turned to Danish expertise to implement their wind turbine plans – Norwin and Ramboll. Many risk factors had to be considered such as noise, load, vibrations, construction materials and so on for this ground-breaking project. The EU has previously funded studies on the integration of wind turbines into buildings however the immense technical difficulty of such an endeavour has prevented work starting on any real projects in Europe.

As the first installation of its type in the world, designers and architects will be watching closely to check the levels of vibration through the buildings and if the structure can cope with the stresses caused by the fast rotation of the rotors in strong winds.

BWTC Launch

The official launch of the Bahrain World Trade Center will be during the second quarter of 2007 with project completion due at the end of first quarter 2007. The wind turbines were installed in mid-March 2007.

More Information

To find out more about the Bahrain World Trade Center please click here.