Energy Monitor

The cooling towers of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine. Credit: Ihor Bondarenko/Shutterstock Forty years ago this month, reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl exploded. I grew up about 350km away, in Mogilev, Belarus, in an area affected by Chernobyl fallout. I am not writing this to relitigate Chernobyl. I am writing it because the nuclear debate of 2026 is being conducted with the same quality of argument that surrounded 1986: loud, tribal and largely disconnected from the evidence.

Prevent downtime and maximize performance through private networks. Credit via Shutterstock. In the energy and natural resources sector, disruptions and productivity losses can severely impact capital investments, workforce efficiency, and equipment lifespan. Hazardous environments—whether in oil and gas, mining, or wind energy—expose equipment to constant risks of malfunction and damage, threatening operational continuity. With digital transformation, asset management is evolving.

Smart oil field maturity assessment. Credit via Shutterstock. As the energy sector accelerates its digital transformation, smart oil fields—driven by real-time data, automation, and advanced analytics—are unlocking new levels of efficiency, safety, and operational performance. Achieving this requires a resilient, industrial-grade network foundation; without it, digital operations stall and production risks escalate.

Energy and natural resources driving efficient operations through digital transformation. Credit via Shutterstock. As digital transformation accelerates, the energy sector is embracing new ways to streamline operations, improve safety and boost productivity. Private cellular network solutions are bringing the promise of industrial digitalization to life, enabling autonomous and virtualized remote operations across energy and natural resources.

Private 5G cellular networks for oil and gas. Credit via Shutterstock. The oil and gas industry is at a crossroads. Amidst the challenges of enhancing operational efficiency, productivity, worker safety and cybersecurity, there’s a simultaneous need to minimize environmental impact. This task is further complicated by a scarcity of skilled labor, limited access to capital, and geopolitical uncertainties, all introducing unpredictable risks beyond the industy’s control.

The connectivity imperative for modern mining. Credit: via Shutterstock. As global electrification and the shift to clean energy accelerate, demand for critical minerals is soaring. Consumption of lithium, copper, and nickel is expected to nearly triple by 2030.1 Mining companies face mounting pressure to increase output while maintaining safety, sustainability, and efficiency.

5G connectivity for digital mining. Credit: via Shutterstock. The global mining industry faces mounting pressures: volatile commodity prices, shorter production cycles, stringent safety regulations, and escalating environmental expectations. In response, mining companies are investing heavily in digitalization, including autonomous equipment, Industrial IoT sensors, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence. Yet many operations still struggle to unlock the full value from these technologies.

Private 5G mining automation. Credit: via Shutterstock. Learn about the latest advancements in autonomous machines powered by private 5G networks. Our webinar will explore real-world examples and discuss the key benefits and challenges of implementing these technologies.

Solar farms in the Mojave Desert, California. Large-scale solar farms had spread across parts of the Mojave Desert in recent years until the Trump administration began actively discouraging renewable energy projects. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images The North America energy transition is entering a more exacting phase. The technology works. The economics broadly hold. What is less certain is execution, as political volatility and global conflicts muddy the policy waters.

Private 5G for remote mining operations Credit: via Shutterstock. Traditional Wi-Fi wasn’t designed for the scale and complexity of today’s mining operations. While Wi-Fi is successfully in use in many mines for autonomous haulage, the combination of vast distances and numerous critical systems requires seamless connectivity; thus, a single, reliable network is essential.