DEWA INNOVATION CENTER

From the Al Qudra bicycle path in the middle of the desert, you can see thousands of solar panels and a tower that almost looks like a spaceship. Welcome to the innovation center of DEWA, Dubai's government authority in charge of electricity and water supply. The building has been awarded Platinum LEED certification, attesting to the best possible energy performance.

This innovation center is well worth a visit: you'll discover a ^21st-century museum in the middle of the desert. A fascinating tour awaits you. You'll be amazed at the ambitions of the United Arab Emirates, and the Emirate of Dubai in particular, to be at the forefront of innovation and solutions to the challenges of climate change. The tour begins with a film showing Dubai's ambition to be a_CO2-neutral emirate by 2050. To get there, you'll discover all the initiatives already launched and planned in the Innovation Center. A second film shows the power of solar energy.

The tour of the Innovation Center is divided into different chapters: you begin with the history of DEWA, founded in 1959 to develop the electricity and drinking water infrastructure of the city of Dubai, which at the time had just 7,000 homes. It's quite impressive to discover, via touch screens, just how quickly energy infrastructure could be developed. The history of electricity and drinking water is also explained, with hands-on experiments on offer. A second chapter is dedicated to light and its properties, which you can experiment with in a playful way. The third chapter looks to the future, with an exhibition of current innovations developed by DEWA and its partners. Your guide is a small robot, who speaks English and Arabic, and interacts with you. The tour continues by climbing to the very top of the center, on the^4th floor, where you discover a magnificent 360-degree view of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is already generating 2,427 MWh, equivalent to 16% of Dubai's total production capacity. At the end of the sixth phase of development, carried out in partnership with MASDAR, in 2030, this park will become the world's largest on a single site, with a production capacity of 5,000 MW, making it possible to power 500,000 homes and reduce_CO2 emissions by 2.36 million tonnes a year. Total investment in this photovoltaic park amounts to 50 billion dirhams, or 12.5 billion euros. A virtual reality experience in the metaverse lets you fly over it. A hologram show is also available.

Round off your visit with a welcome refreshment on the^3rd floor and a visit to the store, where you can purchase a state-of-the-art solar-powered phone charger.

Before you leave, don't forget to take a ride along the innovation path, in an autonomous bus, where you'll discover yet more of DEWA's innovations for generating and storing renewable energy. It's an interesting visit, because it shows that the United Arab Emirates has fully anticipated the post-oil era and is innovating to meet the challenges posed by climate change.