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Visions in the GCC tend to come in a supersized format. Mega projects such as the King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia testify to the ambition of governments to haul their countries into the modern age by creating vast expanses of infrastructure for industry to develop.
Not to be outdone, Abu Dhabi is similarly seeking to diversify itself away from fossil fuels, using the massive wealth generated from oil revenues to work on its Abu Dhabi 2030 strategy. To facilitate this vision, the Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) has been tasked with building the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Taweelah.
The scale of the project is impressive. The first of two phases will be completed in 2012, and comprises of an offshore harbour of 2.7 km2, and an industrial zone (the Khalifa Port Industrial Zone, or KPIZ) of 51 km2. If all goes to plan, Industrial Zone B will add an astonishing 367 km2, the equivalent of 45 875 football pitches, by 2030.
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“Abu Dhabi Ports Company plays a fundamental part in the diversification of the UAE’s economy,” says ADPC chief executive officer Tony Douglas. “The Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone particularly will be important in presenting a breadth of opportunities in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 strategy.”
Work on the project is in full swing. So far, the construction of the harbour area has been given the most attention by the developer. Set on an artificial island, 4.5 kilometres from the mainland, it will provide a gateway for UAE imports and exports.
By 2012, it will have a capacity of two million TEUs and nine million tonnes of general cargo compared with 650,000 and 7.5 million at Mina Zayed respectively. By 2030, the aim is to have increased capacity to 15 million TEUs and 35 million tones of general cargo.
Ongoing work includes the shifting of earth from Zone B to Zone A. Al Jaber Transport and General Contracting, and Ghantoot Transport and General Contracting Establishment were contracted to move 40 million cubic metres of to raise the ground level in Area A by 2.5msl.
Seawater cooling
One of the big advantages of locating the industrial zone on the coastline is the ready access to seawater, which can be used for cooling purposes. The KPIZ already has its first tenant, with the Emirates Aluminum (Emal) swelter close to completion. This heated customer would not be able to function without the provision of cooling water.
To harness the cool of the sea, a 1.7 kilometre canal has been constructed. A slender funnel narrowing from 80 meters at the opening to 45 metres at the base, the structure supplies an inner basin through 2.6 meter pipes that are fed by culverts taking in water at four meters deep, the optimal depth.
The Emal smelter, which upon completion will be the world’s biggest, will initially be allocated 45 000 cubic meters per hour, rising to 60 000 once the second stage of the project is complete.
In total, the seawater cooling system will have a capacity of 143 000 cubic metres per day. While the system has been designed, the piping for the rest of the industrial zone has not been constructed yet, as the final structure depends on the requirements of the tenant industries.
Once the industrial zone becomes operational, and the outflows increase beyond a certain point, the ADPC will need to ensure that the used water does not restrict the cooling and water needs of the adjacent Taweelah IWPP power and desalination plant.
To this end, the outflows, which contain high saline levels and can change the temperature levels of the sea around it, will have to be channelled further out to sea.
“We might provide pipes on the seabed, to a diffuser that diffuses water into the sea a further 1.5 kilometres on top of the existing three kilometres. That would be the same distance as the offshore harbour,” says Jurjen Groen, ADPC project manager of the industrial zone.
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