Meta has struck deals with two energy start-ups to secure round-the-clock clean power for its AI data centres, including a capacity reservation for space-based solar energy. This is one of the first commitments of its kind by a major technology company.

The partnerships, announced on 27 April, cover up to 1 GW of space solar energy through Overview Energy and up to 1 GW/100 GWh of ultra-long-duration storage through Noon Energy.

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Overview Energy’s system places satellites in geosynchronous orbit, approximately 22,000 miles above the equator, where sunlight is constant. The satellites gather solar energy and beam it back to Earth as low-intensity, near-infrared light, directed at existing ground-based solar installations.

Those facilities convert the beam using their existing infrastructure and feed the electricity into the grid, without additional land or new grid connections. The appeal for Meta is straightforward: solar farms that currently produce nothing after dark would keep generating power continuously.

If a 2028 orbital demonstration goes to plan, it will mark the first wireless transmission of energy from space to a ground-based solar facility. Commercial supply to the US grid could follow by 2030.

The Noon Energy partnership addresses a different problem. Even with diverse generation sources, the grid can struggle during extended periods of low wind or overcast skies when conventional battery storage runs out.

Noon’s technology uses modular, reversible solid oxide fuel cells combined with carbon-based storage to hold energy for more than 100 hours, far beyond the capacity of today’s lithium-ion systems. Meta has reserved up to 1 GW/100 GWh, with an initial 25 MW/2.5 GWh pilot demonstration targeted for 2028.

The two deals extend a broader strategy. Meta says it has contracted more than 30 GW of clean and renewable energy to date, including geothermal partnerships with Sage Geosystems and XGS Energy. The company also describes itself as one of the largest corporate buyers of nuclear power in American history, with 7.7 GW secured across agreements with Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo and Constellation Energy.

Both the space solar and long-duration storage technologies remain early-stage, but Meta’s scale of commitment — reserving gigawatts of capacity years before commercial operation — signals how seriously the sector is taking its long-term energy problem.