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Despite its metropolitan cities scattered amidst vast areas of desert, Bahrain is fast becoming greener thanks to the efforts of two of the kingdom’s leading industrial companies.
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and Bapco have both taken steps to become more eco-friendly thanks to recent initiatives, which include a ‘green’ amenity building and a solar power plant respectively.
Alba’s single story amenity building, catering mainly to Power Station 3 & 4 employees, incorporates green technologies such as solar panels and energy efficient appliances.
The building makes use of a solar water heating facility for the showers, as well as energy-saving LED light fittings throughout the building. These two initiatives alone reduce the building power consumption by 40 kW, which is equivalent to the power required for around 23 tonnes of aluminium per annum.
Amin Sultan, Alba’s director for Power, said: “As one of the world’s largest smelters, and a leading company in Bahrain, Alba’s leadership and decisions play a huge role in influencing the society. This green initiative clearly exemplifies our environmental values and I thank all the teams for an excellent job. We remain committed to achieve sustainability and reduce the carbon foot print for a better future.”
Bapco’s new five-megawatt solar plant in Awali, will deliver in excess of 8,000 MW of clean renewable energy to the kingdom, and has received global acclaim.
It is based on ‘Smart Solar’ technology and is the largest of its kind in the Middle East, according to Washington-based Caspian Renewable Energy chief executive Marty Youssefiani.
He said: “Our consortium’s commitment to the kingdom is long-term, multi-faceted and will be including investment tracks in research and development and manufacturing to firmly position Bahrain as the region’s standard bearer of smart, clean energy.”
Bapco chairman Adel Almoayyed said the project enables the establishment of a renewal energy industry as part of the national economy, creating job opportunities and also reducing a reliance on natural gas.
