DIEZ and Volt UAE to build AI data centres in Dubai Silicon Oasis, backed by Schneider Electric
DIEZ and Volt UAE will develop AI data centres in Dubai Silicon Oasis across 60,000 sqm, delivering 29MW immediately and 100MW planned to support the emirate’s digital economy.
Dubai’s free-zone authority has signed a joint venture with Volt UAE and Schneider Electric to construct high-performance AI data centres in Dubai Silicon Oasis, officials announced on Friday. The project, located within the DIEZ-managed technology cluster, will deliver an initial 29MW of operational power and a committed 100MW in a phased rollout, reinforcing Dubai’s bid to be a global hub for digital infrastructure. The AI data centres in Dubai are designed to meet growing regional demand for advanced computing and to support large-scale artificial intelligence workloads.
Partnership details and project scope
DIEZ, the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, is partnering with Volt UAE, the regional platform of Dutch data centre developer Volt, to build the new facilities within Dubai Silicon Oasis. The development will occupy up to 60,000 square metres and will be delivered in two phases to align capacity with market demand. Officials described the initiative as part of DIEZ’s strategy to attract strategic investment that caters to future-oriented sectors across its economic zones.
Design, resilience and operational continuity
Project planners emphasise a high-performance infrastructure engineered for exceptional resilience and uninterrupted operations under demanding conditions. The data centres will include reinforced structural design, extensive backup systems and robust site security to ensure continuous service availability. The facilities are being optimised specifically to support advanced computing applications and intensive AI workloads, which impose greater demands on power, cooling and latency performance than traditional data services.
Power capacity and phased delivery
The development’s first phase will bring an immediate operational power capacity of 29 megawatts to the market, providing immediate hosting options for enterprises and cloud providers. A further 100 megawatts has been committed as part of subsequent phases, enabling substantial scale-up to meet long-term regional needs. This staged approach allows the project to balance rapid market entry with broader capacity expansion as demand for AI compute increases across the Middle East.
Schneider Electric’s infrastructure contribution
Schneider Electric, which already has operations based in Dubai Silicon Oasis, will supply advanced electrical systems, power distribution and smart data centre infrastructure for the project. The company’s scope includes solutions intended to enhance efficiency, reliability and sustainability across the campus. Officials said integrating intelligent energy management and resilient power architectures is central to delivering the high-availability standards required by AI-driven workloads.
Strategic fit with Dubai’s economic agenda
DIEZ officials say the partnership supports Dubai’s broader economic agenda to consolidate its role as a digital economy leader and to capture investment in technology-intensive sectors. The initiative aligns with the emirate’s D33 economic strategy and broader national goals to position the UAE as a destination for innovation and AI development. By expanding regional capacity for compute and data storage, authorities expect the project to attract cloud providers, AI developers and enterprises seeking low-latency access to digital infrastructure.
Leadership perspectives and market signalling
DIEZ’s chief executive highlighted the timing of the partnership as significant amid rapid technology shifts in the region, framing the move as an endorsement of Dubai’s investment climate and economic model. Volt’s chief executive described the project as a strategic milestone for the company’s international expansion and emphasised Dubai’s world-class infrastructure as a catalyst for next-phase digital growth. Schneider Electric’s regional head characterised the data centre as a foundational element for future smart-city deployments and the broader AI economy.
This collaboration aims to set new benchmarks for digital infrastructure in the emirate by combining public free-zone leadership with specialised commercial expertise in data centre development and power systems. Stakeholders expect the campus to support not only traditional colocation and cloud services but also to serve as an operational hub for AI “factories” — facilities where large-scale model training and inference tasks are performed. The scale and technical specification of the site are intended to make Dubai Silicon Oasis a competitive location for regional and international customers seeking advanced AI compute.
DIEZ, Volt UAE and Schneider Electric will proceed with detailed design, regulatory approvals and construction planning in the coming months, with phased commissioning set to follow as capacity is brought online. The project underscores increasing regional investment in compute infrastructure as governments and businesses accelerate AI adoption across sectors.