Video source: YouTube, Disney Parks
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced a major upgrade to its Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, that will enable the property to obtain nearly half of its power from solar energy within two years.
Disney and Reedy Creek Improvement District are partnering with local utility companies to develop two new 75-megawatt solar facilities that will come online within the next two years, the company announced Thursday.
The two new plants will operate in conjunction with a 270-acre solar facility which opened in 2019, and a solar farm built in the shape of Mickey Mouse, unveiled in 2016.
With the addition of the new arrays, Disney World will have four solar installations capable of producing enough energy to supply up to 40% of the park’s annual power consumption.
The company also announced it is working with Urbasolar, a leading company in the French solar energy industry, to develop a canopy of 67,500 solar panels over an outdoor parking lot at Disneyland Paris.
Additionally, a 4,320 panel solar facility will soon provide about 70% of the power used on Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay, in The Bahamas.
The initiatives unveiled on Earth Day are part of a larger push by the company to decrease its carbon footprint around the world and achieve net-zero emissions for its direct operations by 2030.
At Disneyland in California, 1,400 solar panels are already installed atop the Radiator Springs Racers attraction, and Hong Kong Disneyland is home to the “single largest solar panel site” in the region, according to Disney.
At the Tokyo Disney Resort, solar panels installed across the theme park generate “enough power to fuel the iconic Dreamlights Parade,” Disney said.
"I am incredibly proud to share that we're continuing to make tremendous steps towards reducing our carbon footprint at our global parks and resorts with new solar facilities coming online around the world," Dr. Mark Penning, vice president of animals, science and environment at Disney Parks, wrote in the Disney Parks blog.
“To put all of this into perspective, our Disney Parks, Experiences and Products solar portfolio around the world can produce enough energy to power eight Magic Kingdom Parks at Walt Disney World,” Penning added.
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Source: Equities News
