Hotel Tech-in is our regular feature that takes a closer look at emerging technology in the hospitality industry.
With the help of solar energy technology, MGM Resorts International is now powering up to 100% of its daytime electricity needs on the Las Vegas Strip.
Last month, the resort operator began receiving 115 megawatts of solar energy and 400 megawatt-hours of battery storage from the newly completed Escape Solar and Storage Project in Lincoln County, Nevada, according to a release.
MGM Resorts announced a 25-year power purchase agreement with a subsidiary of the project’s owner, Estuary Power, in September 2024, as the solar array was underway. Now, one month after completion, Michael Gulich, vice president of sustainability at MGM Resorts, shares with Hotel Dive how the solar energy technology works and how this milestone supports the operator’s broader climate goals.
The Escape Solar project
MGM Resorts was already powering up to 90% of its Las Vegas daytime energy needs with the Mega Solar Array, a 323,000-panel project that spans 640 acres. The operator claims this represents the hospitality industry’s largest directly sourced renewable electricity project in the world.
With the newly completed Escape Solar and Storage Project, MGM Resorts has now more than doubled its access to renewable energy, Gulich said.
Bechtel Infrastructure and Power Corporation constructed the Estuary Power project, according to the owner, while Tesla supplied and installed the battery energy storage system. The project’s substation and certain transmission upgrades were completed by Dashiell Corp., and JinkoSolar supplied TOPCon (Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact) photovoltaic modules, per the owner.
The array’s location and design sets it apart, Gulich said. Unlike most solar power arrays, Escape sits on rolling hills and utilizes a newer technology called a terrain-following solar tracker. The array’s panels, he explained, follow the tilt of the sun, changing position every 15 minutes “to optimize their angle to the sun and therefore maximizing their output.”
Additionally, the battery system from Escape allows MGM Resorts to store solar energy generated during peak production hours and use it during evenings and other lower-production periods, the company said in the release.
The battery capabilities should allow MGM to “extend our operation and our utilization of renewable power from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” Gulich said.
MGM Resorts will use the renewable energy from the Escape project across all of its Strip properties, except for the Cosmopolitan, per Gulich.
“Together with our Mega Solar Array, the new Escape Solar and Storage Project reflects our focus on scalable, impactful clean-energy solutions,” MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said in the release. “It also demonstrates that our industry can operate more sustainably while delivering long-term cost stability, strengthening our business and supporting a more resilient energy future.”
Broader sustainability impacts
The Escape Solar and Storage Project also supplies solar energy to MGM’s Sin City competitors Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Las Vegas, though MGM is “definitely a leader in the market,” Gulich said. Now that MGM has hit this recent renewable energy milestone in Las Vegas, it’s turning its sights on the rest of the country.
“With this new project coming online, we are accelerating progress toward our goal of using 100% renewable electricity domestically by 2030,” Hornbuckle said.
MGM already has 26,000 solar panels atop the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. In addition, a 100-kilowatt rooftop solar array helps power the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada; in Massachusetts, there are 3,456 solar panels on top of the parking garage at MGM Springfield, per the company.
“As we continue the journey toward greater sustainability, we remain dedicated to finding new ways to reduce our carbon footprint, conserve resources and inspire others to join in building a more sustainable world for generations to come,” Hornbuckle said.
In a 2024 statement, Estuary Power CEO Jill Daniel said that MGM Resorts’ purchase of renewable energy from Escape would reduce carbon emissions by nearly 250,000 metric tons each year.
