Abu Dhabi could become home to its own pyramids, but these would serve as solar-powered energy generators rather than tombs.

A design featuring nine pyramids, similar in form to Egypt’s famous Great Pyramids of Giza, won the UAE’s Land Art Generator Initiative, which fosters the development of carbon neutral developments.

The proposed site would be close to Masdar’s carbon-neutral development at the edge of the city, reports Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper.

“If the UAE has a goal to become a forward-thinking and acting energy producer, supplier and consumer, and also a cultural epicentre, then this is a great project on both of those fronts,” said Adrian De Luca, a member of the American team behind the project.

Made of a glass and silicone photovoltaic compound, the development would feature a 50-metre central pyramid, and eight others standing 22 metres.

Underground electrical cables would pull the energy generated by the outer pyramids to four 500-kilowatt inverters inside the central pyramid, and then transmit this to a utility grid.

The project would have a five-year payback period, according to the designers.

“Its ability to pay back its carbon footprint much faster than a lot of the other entries, as well as its primary purpose to beautify the city and bring international interest and dollars, helped it to win,” said Robert Ferry, the co-founder of Lagi.

Lagi’s strategy is to promote sustainable solutions using public art as an education tool.