Happy Earth Day! This year, Disney is celebrating with solar energy. Today, Disney has shared how they are powering the future of The Walt Disney Company with clean, sustainable, renewable energy and a smaller carbon footprint!
While we have previously talked about the solar facilities at Walt Disney World, Disney is building an all-new facility at Castaway Cay! When the solar array comes online, it will power 70% of this Disney Cruise Line Destination in the Bahamas. Here are some other stats about Disney destinations around the world!
Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line has just shared that its 5-acre solar facility is close to completion at Castaway Cay in The Bahamas. This facility includes 4,320 solar panels and will generate approximately 70% of the island’s power. Greenhouse gas emissions will also be reduced by 3,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort is no stranger to solar energy. In 2016, a not-so-hidden Mickey shaped solar array was developed near Epcot in collaboration with Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) and Duke Energy, sharing that authentic Disney flair across 22 acres of land. And in 2019, Walt Disney World Resort and RCID joined Origis Energy USA to develop a revolutionary 270-acre, 57-megawatt solar facility that generates enough renewable clean energy to operate two of Disney’s four theme parks in Central Florida annually, all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50,000 tons per year.
Today, Walt Disney World Resort and RCID continue to find ways to expand their use of solar energy and have teamed up with local utility partners in Central Florida to develop two new 75MW solar facilities, expected to come online in 2022 and 2023. Combined with their existing solar facilities, the Walt Disney World Resort and RCID renewable energy portfolio consists of approximately 212MW of solar capacity which is projected to bring Walt Disney World’s renewable energy consumption up to 40% of its total power use once online.
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is setting the standard for solar energy in Europe – working on the one of the largest solar canopy plants in collaboration with Urbasolar. This solar plant will provide practical and innovative use of 67,500 solar panels sitting atop a covered parking lot. This project will not only save space, provide shade and protect guest vehicles from inclement weather, but it will also produce 31 gigawatt-hours of energy per year and provide enough renewable clean energy to power 17% of the resort. The plant will also have a special Disney touch, illuminating in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head that can be visible at night from the sky.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is also setting an example locally, serving as home to the single largest solar panel site in Hong Kong. The park has installed 5000 solar panels on 20 buildings and attractions – reaching approximately 2.2 million kWh, the same amount of energy generated by 544 three-person Hong Kong households for one year.
Solar arrays can also be found at Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disneyland. 1,400 solar panels sit atop the Radiator Springs Racer attraction at Disneyland while one full acre worth of solar panels span across Tokyo Disneyland, serving as the power source for the iconic Dreamlight Parade floats.
