Meta to power its bit barns with energy from space

Facebook provider also working with energy storage firm to keep 100 hours of juice on hand

With AI demand growing, Facebook parent Meta is looking for new ways to power its datacenters, with one ambitious project pledging to send solar power down from orbit. Another agreement offers Meta the opportunity to store enough power to keep its bit barns going, even when the grid is over capacity or down.

Zuck-corp says the speed and scale at which it is expanding its AI capabilities calls for more energy, but says today's clean energy technologies have real limits.

For this reason, it has made an agreement with Overview Energy that will see Meta get early access to up to 1 GW of power from Overview's space energy system.

The startup says it plans to collect solar energy in space and beam it to facilities on the ground, where it will be converted into electricity, and those facilities will be able to produce power around the clock. It is planning to eventually field a 1,000 unit constellation to beam solar power to Earth.

Overview plans an initial orbital demonstration in 2028, while commercial power delivery is expected in 2030, meaning this is another mid-to-long term bet by Meta.

Overview Energy emerged from stealth late last year with a demonstration of a light aircraft sending power to a solar installation on the ground from an altitude of 3 miles (5 kilometers).

According to the pair, the satellites will sit in geosynchronous orbit and beam the collected energy to the ground as low-intensity, near-infrared light. It will be focused onto existing solar farms that currently sit idle at night, allowing them to keep producing electricity around the clock, maximizing their output and creating more energy for the grid.

"Together with Meta, we're looking beyond traditional constraints on where and when power can be delivered to meet the growing demand for electricity," claimed Overview Energy CEO Marc Berte.

At the same time, Zuck's operation says it has an agreement with Noon Energy for energy storage. It has reserved up to 1 GW / 100 GWh of ultra-long-duration energy storage capacity, meaning it is capable of delivering 1 GW of power for 100 hours.

However, like with the Overview deal, this is not due to come online for several years; Noon says an initial 25 MW / 2.5 GWh pilot demonstration project is expected to finalize in 2028.

The system is said to use modular, reversible solid oxide fuel cells and carbon-based storage to provide more than 100 hours' worth of stored energy, outlasting what today's lithium-ion batteries can deliver. It is expected to provide grid resilience and enable baseload energy to support Meta's AI infrastructure around the clock, once available.

"We're partnering with a company that is actively securing stable power for the AI infrastructure of tomorrow, and Meta recognizes the promise in our 100+ hour ultra-long duration storage technology," said Noon co-founder and CEO Chris Graves, adding that Meta's datacenters represented one of the best applications for its battery technology.

Meta says both firms are early providers of their respective technology, and that's why they are worth supporting now. The potential to unlock more from existing infrastructure and store energy for days at a time are the kinds of innovation that can reshape what is possible, Meta added.

"Bringing datacenters online faster requires rapid deployment of reliable energy sources," said Meta's VP of Energy and Sustainability Nat Sahlstrom. "This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to innovation – leveraging cutting-edge technology to strengthen America's energy leadership." 

We asked Meta how much these agreements would cost, but the company had not responded by the time of publication.

These are just the latest energy agreements Meta has signed, in order to secure power for its massive data facilities. In January, it inked agreements with three nuclear companies, although those facilities are also unlikely to come online until around 2030. Other agreements have focused on wind power or solar, spreading the company's bets. ®