Disneyland Paris has begun the construction of a new solar power plant that the resort hopes will provide cheap, clean power to its two theme parks and eight hotels.
The new solar power plant is being developed and co-financed by Urbasolar, a French company that specialises in the design, construction and operation of solar power plants. The current plan is for the company to install solar panels on top of Disneyland Paris’ main guest parking lot in phases through 2023.
Why this is just the latest example of Disney’s love of solar energy
Disney is no stranger to solar power, with the company having significant experience with the technology at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida. In 2016, a 5MW facility was opened at the Orlando resort shaped like Mickey Mouse, although that was quickly followed by a 270-acre solar farm outputting 50MW in 2019.
Thanks to the installation of those two solar farms at the Walt Disney World resort, Disney is able to power two of its theme parks without any demand on the grid. The company says that the solar plants at its Orlando resort are responsible for saving 52,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere each and every year.
How big will the Disneyland Paris solar facility be?
While Disneyland Paris hasn’t shared the exact details of the solar plant it has begun installing, the firm did share its initial plans in 2018. Those plans called for a facility that would generate 33GWh of electricity per year, representing around 15% of the electrical energy currently consumed at the resort.
Of course, solar panels have become more efficient since then, so it’s entirely possible that the panels that are eventually installed at Disneyland Paris output more electricity than initially planned. We won’t know for sure until the solar plant goes fully live in 2023.
