Meta bets on space-based solar power to fuel AI boom

Meta Platforms Inc. is exploring an unconventional solution to meet the soaring energy demands of artificial intelligence, striking a deal to source solar power generated in space.

The company announced on April 27 that it has secured an agreement for up to 1 gigawatt of space-based solar energy from Overview Energy, a startup developing technology to collect sunlight via satellites orbiting Earth and beam it back as electricity for terrestrial grids. A gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the output of a nuclear reactor, according to Bloomberg. 

Overview Energy’s concept remains in development, with plans for an initial orbital demonstration in 2028 and expectations to begin commercial power delivery by 2030. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, though Meta said the deal would grant it preferential access to the startup’s future energy capacity.

Meta’s move reflects intensifying competition among major technology firms to secure reliable energy sources for power-hungry AI infrastructure. Figures such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have also floated the idea of moving data centres themselves into orbit.

The agreement forms part of Meta’s broader push to expand its AI capabilities, which includes committing hundreds of billions of dollars toward energy, infrastructure, and computing capacity. The company is currently backing the construction of 10 gas-fired power plants to support its largest AI data center campus in Louisiana, underscoring its reliance on steady energy supplies.

Despite that reliance, Meta is increasingly looking for cleaner alternatives that can provide consistent output. It hopes Overview Energy’s approach will deliver stable, renewable power.

The company is allocating hundreds of billions of dollars to secure the energy, infrastructure and computing capacity needed to support its artificial intelligence plans. It hopes that Overview Energy will offer it access to clean, “uninterrupted energy,” Nat Sahlstrom, Meta’s vice president of energy and sustainability, said in a statement.

Overview Energy is banking on the advantage that sunlight in space is constant, unaffected by weather, time of day, or seasonal changes. If successful, the technology could overcome some of the limitations faced by ground-based solar power systems, whose efficiency fluctuates under changing environmental conditions.

By Sabina Mammadli