Plans to spend BD5 million ($13.1 million) on a new power station that will feed Tubli Sewage Treatment Plant in Bahrain, which is undergoing a major expansion, have been given the green light.

The Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) wants to build a 66-kV station on a plot of land near Tubli Bay, which is protected by law from reclamation and pollution, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The project was approved by Capital Trustees Board officials after it was referred to them by the General Directorate for Urban Planning

Energy Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said the station was a necessary step to improve the electricity network in the area.

"We have asked for a plot of land which was given to us by the General Directorate of Planning Affairs, but we needed the (Trustees) approval for us to ask for necessary budget allocation," he told the GDN.

"Costs are estimated to be around BD5 million ($13.1 million), but we are waiting for financing from the national budget.

"The station directly complements the new Adhari 220-kV electricity station, which has been allocated a plot and would be built from the Kuwaiti Development Fund loan, which we are awaiting confirmation on."

The GDN reported in June last year on the ongoing "futuristic" expansion plans for the plant in Tubli, which included doubling its capacity to 400 million litres of sewage a day, and removing unpleasant odours emitted during the wastewater treatment process through the installation of state-of-the-art processing tanks called "sequencing batch reactors."

A new solar drying technique would also be employed, which would leave behind a residue that could be used as fertiliser.

Trustees acting technical committee chairman Dr Maha Al Shehab said building the station would help fast-track work on other developments at the plant.

"It is all part of a huge plan to develop the area and ensure faster processing of sewage, while at the same time meeting an increase in business, investment and residential urbanisation in the area," she said. "There are plans for another station on the opposite side of the road that will provide further support to the network, but this project is more important to the plant's expansion." – TradeArabia News Service