Duke Energy will build a facility near Epcot that will provide solar power to Walt Disney World.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Disney-controlled taxing district, voted Wednesday to accept a 15-year agreement with Duke. The energy company will lease the land from Disney, which will buy power.
The solar farm will occupy about 20 acres near World Drive and Epcot Center Drive.
Construction is expected to begin mid-summer and the facility should be in service by year’s end.
The power plant’s 48,000 solar panels will be arranged in the shape of — what else? — a Mickey Mouse head.
A Disney spokeswoman did not know what percentage of the resort’s power would come from the solar farm. The 5-megawatt facility is equivalent to about 1,000 typical residential solar rooftop systems.
Disney World already buys some power from Duke. It has used a little bit of solar power here and there, including at a theater at Epcot’s Universe of Energy exhibit, and in water-heating systems in a wardrobe facility and at the Animal Nutrition Center. The Duke project, however, will be the property’s largest solar project. Reedy Creek put out a request for proposals for a solar facility on Disney property last year.
Disney and Reedy Creek officials said the project is part of a commitment toward sustainability. Other efforts include a factory that turns food scraps into electricity and fertilizer, and recent conversion of its bus fleet to a cleaner fuel that will ultimately reduce emissions by nearly half.
Duke Energy, meanwhile, has been focusing more on power generated by the sun.
“The price of solar continues to come down and it’s a sound investment for us,” spokesman Sterling Ivey said. “Our customers are wanting more solar options and we’re certainly moving in that direction.”
In April, Duke Energy announced plans to build up to 500 megawatts of solar in Florida by 2024. The Disney project is not part of that.
Duke also has funded more than $8 million in solar photovoltaic system installations at about 50 schools and universities in Florida to generate electricity and help foster renewable energy education.
spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240
