my innovation journey starts inland, south of morocco s major cities and mighty atlas mountains, just north of the sahara desert, near the quiet outpost of ouarzazate. this part of saharan morocco is known as the door of the desert. the landscape out here, it s almost like it s from another world. feels like we could be on mars. these plains receive three times the sun as parts of northern europe. ..and are home to a world leading project of staggering scale. this is noor, a solar power station, putting morocco at the forefront of pioneering renewable technology. i m used to feeling small, but this makes me feel even smaller. hello, abed, salam. hello, my friend, salam. nice to meet you. nice to meet you, too. this is incredible! and lots of sun. lots of sun, yeah. which is what we want for something like this. yeah. this is not an ordinary solarfield. panels with over 7,000 mirrors follow the sun. and i can hear lots of sounds at the moment. it s quite eerie. is that the pan
Sounds at the moment. it s quite eerie. is that the panels moving? yes, the movement, just with a small speed. all of these reflect the sun back at this dazzling monument. so, look at this. this is where the magic happens. yeah. you can see that s the tower. it s extraordinary! it s so bright at the top, i can barely even look at it. i probably shouldn t look at it without my sunglasses on. 215 metres up, this white hot beacon can hit 1,000 degrees celsius. a liquid salt absorbs and transports this heat, using it to produce steam and generate electricity on the ground. all of these mirrors just point up at it, it s like they re worshipping the tower. it s incredible. while solar is used across the globe, what s special here is the molten salt, which retains energy eight hours after dark. so it s almost like a giant battery. yes.