Two of the kingdom’s five-star hotel properties now have glowing green credentials after wind and solar power investments were made to help them achieve their sustainability goals.
The Westin City Centre Bahrain and Le Meridien City Centre Bahrain have completed the installation of 20 wind turbines, making them the first hotels in Bahrain to harness wind energy with each turbine expected to generate 3kW of electricity.
In addition, 96 electric solar panels have also been installed. The cost of the project has not been outlined.
“We’re proud to be the first in Bahrain to install wind turbines to generate enough electricity to run our public area lighting, thus reducing our carbon footprint,” said Westin City Centre Bahrain and Le Meridien City Centre Bahrain general manager Sammy Gani.
He added that the properties’ executive team had been guided by parent company Marriott International’s sustainability and social impact goals and formed part of a commitment to ‘sustainable operations and creating a positive impact’ across its hotels.
In August, 19,367kW was generated at The Westin City Centre Bahrain, saving generating carbon of 13,450kg, while Le Meridien City Centre Bahrain generated 21,318.00kW and saved generating carbon of 15,136.00kg.
“Electricity generated from these turbines is enough to light up all public areas at The Westin and Le Meridien City Centre Bahrain,” explained chief engineer Zakour Moussa. “To put this in perspective, the electricity generated can run a car for 117,856km and save 478 trees.”
The green crusade continues to show positive results. In September, the turbines generated 25,442.00kW of electricity at The Westin and 27,828.00kW of electricity at Le Meridien. The Westin saved 18,064kg in generating carbon, while Le Meridien saved 19,758kg in generating carbon. In perspective, the total electricity generated can run a car for 154,312km, charge 4,591,834 smart phones, and save 624 trees.
“Most companies are focusing on sustainability these days,” added marketing director Cristalyn Pastrana. “Other than the wind turbines and solar panels, we also have a water project in the pipeline, where guests will be able get sustainable drinking water in the future.”
The hotels have been working in partnership with the Bahrain Government. “We’re in constant contact with government entities,” she added.
Environmental experts discussed the wind turbines project last year and gave it the green light and hotel executives are hopeful the initiative will further assist Bahrain’s bid to achieve its sustainability goals too. “This could be the start of more buildings using sustainable energy from wind turbines and solar panels,” she added.
The kingdom has been pioneering in the use of wind power. The Bahrain World Trade Center, a 240m-high, 50-floor, twin tower complex, for example, was the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design. The project has received several awards for sustainability.
The two towers are linked via three sky bridges, each holding a 225kW wind turbine, totalling 675kW of wind power capacity. Each of these turbines measure 29m in diameter, and is aligned north, which is the direction from which air from the Arabian Gulf blows in. The sail-shaped buildings on either side are designed to funnel wind through the gap to provide accelerated wind passing through the turbines.
This was confirmed by wind tunnel tests, which showed that the buildings create an S-shaped flow, ensuring that any wind coming within a 45° angle to either side of the central axis will create a wind stream that remains perpendicular to the turbines. This significantly increases their potential to generate electricity.
The wind turbines aim to provide 11 per cent to 15pc of the towers’ total power consumption, or approximately 1.1 to 1.3GWh a year. This is equivalent to providing the lighting for about 300 homes, 258 hospitals, 17 industrial plants and 33 car engines. The three turbines were turned on for the first time in 2008.
Bahrain’s sustainability goals were announced by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, at the landmark UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held last year in Glasgow, the UK.
Bahrain has committed to reaching net zero by 2060, with a number of interim goals to be hit by 2035 including reducing emissions by 30 per cent through decarbonisation and efficiency initiatives, quadrupling mangrove coverage, doubling tree coverage, and directly investing in carbon capture technologies.
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