Contents
US space-based solar developer Virtus Solis Technologies and Brae Systems, which builds underwater GPU data centres, have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The companies describe it as the world’s first commercial PPA for solar power generated in space.
Starting at 100 MW, rising to 250 MW
Under the agreement, Virtus Solis will deliver 100 MW of continuous orbital solar power through a dedicated ground receiving station to be built in Illinois, equivalent to 876,000 MWh a year. The contract gives Brae the option to raise capacity to 250 MW (2.19 million MWh a year) within three years of first commercial operation. The companies say the total lifetime value of the agreement runs into billions of dollars.
Wireless power transmission by radio frequency
Virtus Solis aims to transmit solar energy collected in space continuously to Earth using high-efficiency radio frequency (RF) power beaming. The company says this enables baseload generation without the battery storage needed to manage the intermittency of terrestrial solar and wind, and that it guarantees 99.9 percent uptime. It is developing the power electronics needed for this new asset class with the support of a USD 2 million development agreement with the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E.
The technology has not yet been proven at commercial scale. Virtus Solis said the next key step for its unit economics will be its first public technical demonstration in March 2027, where it expects record wireless power transfer efficiency.
Continuous power for underwater data centres
Brae Systems aims to remove land constraints and cut cooling and construction costs by placing GPU modules in the marine environment. Brae CEO Vishnu Indukuri said sourcing clean energy directly from Virtus Solis for 20 years will let GPU infrastructure run at a predictable power cost. Virtus Solis founder and CEO John Bucknell described the agreement as a turning point for the energy transition and computing infrastructure.
Sources
- Virtus Solis, “Virtus Solis Signs Landmark 20-Year Space Solar PPA with Brae Systems to Deliver 250 MW of Orbital Baseload Clean Power”, press release, 30.09.2026 – PR Newswire
Image: Virtus Solis
Author
