Val d’Europe adds solar energy to sustainability mix

Val d’Europe
The solar canopy over the guest parking lot generates 36GWh annually

The territory is promoting sustainability through large-scale projects, with Disneyland Paris’s solar panels canopy a standout example.

Located on the eastern flank of Paris, Val d’Europe is being developed into a thriving business and residential zone, with sustainability established as a core value. Disneyland Paris, which is located within the territory, is setting an example of sustainability in action with its latest initiatives.

The resort has embraced a comprehensive strategy centred on four main priorities: implementing energy-saving initiatives; upgrading equipment to optimise energy efficiency; transitioning from fossil fuels to electric processes; and launching large-scale renewable energy projects.

In the past few years, the resort has implemented several largescale projects to achieve its environmental goals. For example, it now has the largest solar array in Europe, and has announced plans to install a thermo-refrigerating pump in the coming months, which will significantly reduce its carbon footprint.

In 2020, Disneyland Paris began a three-year project to construct a solar canopy plant in its guest parking lot, in partnership with French company Urbasolar Group. This plant, which has been operational since December 2023, now generates 36GWh annually – equivalent to the energy usage of a town with 17,400 residents – and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Val d’Europe area by around 890 tonnes of CO2 each year.

The plant features more than 80,000 panels covering 11,200 parking spaces across 20 ha.

Positive environmental legacy

“As the top tourist destination in Europe, we have a responsibility to continue to operate and grow our business in a way that will allow us to deliver a positive environmental legacy for future generations. From our day-to-day operations to the implementation of new and ambitious projects – such as the installation of a solar canopy plant on our guest parking lot – we are more than ever adopting a deliberate approach to effectively mitigate our environmental footprint,” says Natacha Rafalski, president of Disneyland Paris.

To further improve energy efficiency, the thermo-refrigerating pump will provide both heating and cooling simultaneously. Once operational, it will reduce the resort’s natural gas consumption by 14% and its heating needs – currently met through a combination of geothermal energy and natural gas – by 10%.

The new system will also cut the use of recycled water from the resort’s wastewater treatment plant by approximately 30,000 cu m, with the saved water redirected to maintain green spaces and clean pathways.