Disney World -New Solar Facilities

On Earth Day 2021, Disney has announced that Walt Disney World and Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) are teaming up with local utility partners in Central Florida to develop two new 75MW solar facilities, which are expected to come online in approximately two years.

Disney solar facility feeds into corporate sustainability plan

The giant solar power facility forms just one part of Disney’s overall sustainability plan. The company commitment to “environmental stewardship” focuses on the sensitive and wise use of resources. It aims to achieve zero net carbon emissions long-term while reducing water use wherever possible.

Another goal of Disney’s environmental stewardship plan is to achieve zero waste output by 2020. It plans to do this by incorporating waste reduction into the design of products and facilities, and through recycling programs.

Disney is also involved in many sustainability and renewable energy projects across the globe. These include:

• Central Florida: a 5 MW, 48,000 solar-panel facility shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head.
• Tokyo Disneyland: an electric light parade powered by solar panels on eight rooftops.
• California Disneyland: Adventure Park powered by 1,400 high-efficiency solar panels.
• Paris Disneyland: two theme parks and a hotel powered by geothermal energy.
• Shanghai Disneyland: a heating and cooling plant powered by energy partly created from waste.
• Cruise ships: Disney is building three cruise ships to run on natural gas.

The company claims to have already reduced its global emissions by 41 per cent in 2017 — making the 50 per cent by 2020 target look very achievable.

Disney’s projects showcase just what installing solar panels can achieve. This includes not only lowering emissions of course but also potentially saving a packet on electricity bills — just what Mickey and Minnie need!