Six Flags Magic Mountain goes full power with solar carport
Power is flowing full force now from Six Flags Magic Mountain's parking lot solar canopies.
The installation is the largest solar carport in California. It covers 4,315 parking spaces and can generate 20.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. That's enough to offset 100 percent of the annual electricity consumption of the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park and its Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles water park.
"This is a transformative moment for Six Flags Magic Mountain and our sustainability journey," Park President Brian Oerding said. "By investing in renewable energy, we're taking meaningful action to reduce our environmental impact while helping build a more sustainable future for our guests, team members and community. This project demonstrates what's possible when organizations commit to innovation and responsible environmental stewardship."
Heck, I would have been happy just with the shade over more than 4,000 parking spaces at Magic Mountain's formerly sun-baked lot. Generating enough clean energy to power the whole theme park is a bonus.
The 12.37-megawatt solar energy system does not take Magic Mountain off the grid. The system, developed in partnership with Solar Optimum, remains connected to Southern California Edison, with the 637,000 square-foot canopy providing power to the grid when solar production exceeds local demand and battery storage. (There's a 2-megawatt/8-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system as part of the overall system.) When the solar system is not generating enough power for the park, it can pull from the SCE grid.
Six Flags has been installing the system over the past few years, but announced this week that the system is now fully energized.
Replies (3)
A really wonderful investment in sustainability and futureproofing, without a doubt. And of course the added benefit of nearly every parking spot being in the shade and making that long walk back to the car nowhere near as brutal after a hot day in the park.
Next step add solar panels covering everything in the backside of the park.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Obviously this is a no-brainer for both sustainability and the bottom line, but they should still be commended for doing it and doing it scale. Good on you, Six Flags!