Meta announces the introduction of 1GW of "space-based solar power" and over 100 hours of ultra-long-duration energy storage to address the power shortage in AI data centers.

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Is the end of AI computing power space-based energy? Meta dropped a bombshell today (27th), announcing the introduction of two sci-fi-level energy technologies to meet the massive 24/7 power demands of AI data centers. Meta will partner with Overview Energy to deploy up to 1 GW of "space-based solar power," using satellites to beam energy back to solar panels on Earth at night; simultaneously, it will collaborate with Noon Energy to develop an "ultra-long-duration energy storage system" capable of sustaining power for over 100 hours. This initiative breaks the limitation of renewable energy being "at the mercy of the weather," with the first pilot projects expected to launch in 2028. (Context: AI data centers have become carbon bombs: annual greenhouse gas emissions exceed those of entire countries; carbon reduction commitments from OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, etc., are collapsing.) (Background: Zuckerberg reportedly ranks at the bottom of Meta in AI token usage and has even demanded employees interact with his AI avatar.) As the scale of AI models expands exponentially, tech giants are racking their brains over the staggering power consumption of data centers. Now, Facebook parent company Meta has decided to cast its gaze for energy directly toward the vast cosmos. On April 27, 2026, Meta released an official announcement titled "Powering AI, Strengthening the Grid: Innovations in Space-Based Solar and Long-Duration Energy Storage." To overcome the fatal flaw of traditional wind and solar power being "at the mercy of the weather" (intermittency), Meta announced strategic partnerships with two forward-looking energy startups, aiming to provide 24/7 stable, uninterrupted green power for AI infrastructure. Traditional solar power plants are effectively useless at night or on cloudy days, but Meta's collaboration with Overview Energy will completely overturn this conventional wisdom. The project will deploy a satellite array stationed approximately 22,000 miles above the Earth's equator (geostationary orbit). These satellites can continuously receive unobstructed, intense sunlight 24/7 and convert the energy into "low-intensity near-infrared beams," which are precisely transmitted back to existing solar power plants on the Earth's surface. The biggest highlight of this technology is that it "does not require additional land acquisition or the construction of new ground infrastructure." Once ground-based solar panels receive the beams, they can directly convert them into electricity and feed it into the grid, instantly enabling idle nighttime equipment to generate power. Meta has committed to booking up to 1 GW of space-based solar capacity, with an orbital demonstration expected in 2028 and commercial power supply as early as 2030. Beyond "borrowing light" from space, Meta also needs to solve the energy storage challenge during extreme weather conditions with consecutive days of no wind or sun. Current mainstream lithium-ion battery storage systems typically only provide 2 to 4 hours of power, which cannot meet the massive continuous operational demands of AI data centers. To this end, Meta announced a partnership with Noon Energy to deploy an ultra-long-duration energy storage system of up to 1 GW / 100 GWh. Noon Energy utilizes modular reversible solid oxide fuel cells and carbon-based storage technology, capable of providing stable power output for over 100 hours (up to several days). The first 25 MW / 2.5 GWh pilot project is expected to be completed by 2028, marking one of the largest ultra-long-duration energy storage commitments in the global energy industry to date. These two highly sci-fi collaborations complete the final piece of Meta's energy strategy. To cope with the AI computing power race, Meta has signed contracts for over 30 GW of clean and renewable energy globally to date. Previously, Meta has invested heavily in geothermal energy and signed approximately 7.7 GW of nuclear power supply agreements with nuclear giants such as Vistra and TerraPower. In the announcement, Meta emphasized that although space-based solar and ultra-long-duration energy storage are still in the early stages of development, only by investing heavily now can the intermittency issues of renewable energy be thoroughly resolved, building a future energy system capable of supporting US AI hegemony and grid resilience.

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