SpaceX Alumni Launch Ambrosia Energy to Build Solar-Battery Power Plants for AI Data Centers
Two former SpaceX engineers have founded Ambrosia Energy to build solar and battery power plants that cost $100 per megawatt-hour and can be constructed in 12 months, undercutting natural gas plants. The company pairs solar panels with lithium-ion batteries using a trickle-charge system to provide 24-hour power at lower costs than traditional generation. If successful at scale, the approach could reshape energy markets serving AI infrastructure and other hyperscale operations.
Ambrosia Energy, founded by Sara Spangelo and Ben Longmier (both former SpaceX/Starlink engineers), is building modular solar-battery power plants designed to compete with natural gas generation. The company's key innovation is not new technology but engineering optimization: it pairs standard solar panels with lithium-ion batteries that charge slowly throughout the day and discharge at night, reducing system strain and costs to approximately 1.5 times the battery cell cost—below industry standards. At $100 per megawatt-hour, Ambrosia's offering undercuts combined-cycle gas turbines (currently $107/MWh) while avoiding the five-to-seven-year backlog for gas turbine procurement. The startup began construction on a West Texas facility in January 2024 and reports sections are already operating at full capacity. Spangelo and Longmier are applying lessons from SpaceX's rapid iteration model, treating power plant modules like satellite deployments. The company plans to scale to gigawatt capacity by decade's end and is building a factory in Austin to accelerate production.
What's missing
The article does not discuss potential grid integration challenges, regulatory hurdles beyond brief mention, environmental impacts of large-scale solar deployment on the million-acre sites mentioned, or comparative reliability data between the proposed system and existing grid infrastructure. Additionally, the funding amount from DFJ Growth is not disclosed, limiting transparency on investor confidence levels.
What different sources said
- TechCrunchCenter
Why two SpaceX alumni are betting on solar and batteries to power the AI craze
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