Powering the AI knowledge middle increase dominated the dialog within the world vitality sector in 2025. Governments are racing to develop essentially the most superior AI models, and knowledge middle builders are constructing as quick as they will. However nobody goes to get very far with out discovering methods to generate and transfer extra electrical energy to those energy guzzlers.
Spectrum’s hottest vitality tales in 2025 centered round that theme. Readers have been notably serious about tales about next-generation nuclear power, corresponding to small modular reactors and salt-cooled reactors, and the way these applied sciences would possibly assist data centers. Readers additionally turned to Spectrum to study concerning the pressure all of that is placing on electrical energy grids, and new applied sciences to unravel these issues.
Regardless of the weightiness of the vitality sector’s challenges, we discovered some enjoyable, off-beat tales to inform too. One American firm is constructing the world’s largest airplane—it’s larger than a football discipline—and it’ll have one job: to move wind turbine blades.
I don’t know what 2026 will convey, however as Spectrum’s energy editor, I’ll do my greatest to offer you tales which are true, helpful, and interesting. Cheers to a brand new 12 months in vitality!
GE Vernova
The world out of the blue wants extra energy, however one answer being examined is to downsize vitality technology and distribute it extra extensively. One instance of that’s small modular reactors (SMRs). These nuclear fission reactors are lower than a 3rd of the dimensions and energy output of typical reactors. And because the April deadline approached for applying for the US $900 million the United States was offering for SMR development, readers got here to Spectrum in droves to find out about this system in a information article authored by contributor Shannon Cuthrell.
However the SMR cash paled compared to the $80 billion that the United States is spending on a fleet of large-scale nuclear reactors designed by Westinghouse. Will this subsequent group of reactors undergo from the identical delays and price overruns as those that put Westinghouse into bankruptcy just some years in the past? Spectrum introduced readers an expert analysis on the subject by Wooden MacKenzie’s Ed Crooks.
Edmon de Haro
The USA could have essentially the most SMRs in growth, however China has the one which’s furthest alongside. The Linglong One, on the island of Hainan, is predicted to start operations within the first half of 2026. And that’s only one element in a smorgasbord of nuclear reactor experimentation in China. One of many nation’s most fascinating initiatives is a thorium-powered, molten-salt reactor, which it started constructing in 2025 within the Gobi desert. Previous to this venture, the final working molten-salt reactor was at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which shut down in 1969.
The attraction of thorium as a gas is that it reduces dependence on uranium. Little or no info is out there on the progress of China’s thorium reactor, however with assist from our Taiwan-based freelancer Yu-Tzu Chiu, we all know it’s small—solely 10 megawatts—and is scheduled to be operational by 2030. Verify again with Spectrum for updates on this reactor and the Linglong One.
Radia
Whereas nuclear reactors must get smaller, wind turbines must get larger, say some renewable energy advocates. And the largest impediment to larger wind—moreover the current political backlash—is transportation. Roads, bridges, and prepare tracks dictate the dimensions of on-shore wind turbine blades, and often can’t accommodate something over 70 meters lengthy. That’s why Radia, an aviation startup in Boulder, Colo., is building the world’s largest airplane. It would stretch 108 meters in size, be formed to carry a 105-meter blade, and might land on a makeshift filth runway. Spectrum contributor Andrew Moseman traveled to Radia’s headquarters to take a look at the plane’s design and fly the behemoth on the corporate’s simulator. (Spoiler: He landed it.)
National Grid Electrical energy Transmission/Sensible Wires
None of this new vitality technology will matter if we will’t transfer it throughout the grid to clients who want it. However many key transmission corridors are maxed. Blackouts are rising longer and extra widespread. Constructing new transmission traces takes years and infrequently will get thwarted by NIMBY pushback. Queues for connecting to the grid, whether or not you’re offering energy or requesting it, may be comically lengthy.
To bridge the hole, grid operators globally are turning to modern grid tech. Collectively known as grid-enhancing applied sciences (GETs), a number of the boldest examples may be discovered within the United Kingdom. For instance, the U.Okay.’s Nationwide Grid has been implementing electronic power-flow controllers, known as SmartValves, that shift electrical energy from jammed circuits to these with spare capability.
The U.Okay. and different international locations have additionally been reconductoring previous traces and installing dynamic line rating, which calculates how a lot present high-voltage traces can safely carry based mostly on real-time climate circumstances. And Scotland has been beefing up its grid-scale battery stations with superior converters. These leap into motion inside milliseconds to launch the additional energy wanted when vitality provide elsewhere on the grid falters. Spectrum contributor Peter Fairley, who authored a number of of those tales, traveled to the U.Okay. to research grid congestion woes and tech options.
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Photos
On the reverse finish of the spectrum, one of many world’s most uncared for grids may be present in Cuba. There, a long time of poor gas and upkeep have left the nation’s vitality infrastructure in disaster. Currently, Cuba’s total grid has been collapsing each couple of months. Blackouts are so widespread that residents are cooking a number of meals without delay and dealing by flashlight, says Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist who defined the state of affairs for Spectrum readers in this popular expert-authored guest post.
The close by Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has additionally been enduring extra frequent blackouts, main some to invest that the grid on this American territory could go the identical means as Cuba’s. The turmoil has prompted widespread development of solar-plus-storage systems across the island which are privately financed, experiences Spectrum contributor Julia Tilton.
Edmon de Haro
On the lighter aspect, we additionally explored the world of nuclear batteries. These gadgets retailer vitality within the type of radioactive isotopes. They’ll final for many years, making them ideally suited for medical implants, distant infrastructure, robots, and sensors. However the attract of a small battery with a 50-year lifespan has given this sector a number of false begins. There was a stint within the Seventies the place surgeons implanted nuclear-powered pacemakers in over 1,400 folks solely to lose monitor of them over time. Regulators balked when gadgets containing plutonium-238 began turning up in crematoriums and coffins.
Now the sphere is experiencing a resurgence in curiosity. Corporations on a number of continents are claiming to be on the verge of commercialization of nuclear batteries. Whether or not they’ll discover keen markets is unclear. In a characteristic for Spectrum, nuclear battery professional James Blanchard particulars the historical past of those gadgets and why there’s out of the blue extra exercise on this discipline than he’s ever seen in his 40-year profession.
Brittany Greeson
Generally a narrative is so good that we simply need to publish it, even when we discover it some other place. That was the case with a chapter from the ebook Inevitable: Inside the Messy, Unstoppable Transition to Electric Vehicles (Harvard Enterprise Assessment Press, 2025). The chapter tells the story of 1 power-train engineer at Ford whose internal-combustion-engine experience slowly turned expendable as automotive corporations pivoted to EVs. With permission, we revealed an adapted version of the chapter, which is chock-full of wonderful reporting from writer Mike Colias, a veteran automotive reporter. Don’t miss it! (Spoiler: The engineer, Lem Yeung, who left Ford after 30 years, ended up returning to the corporate a number of years later to assist clear up the mess brought on by the lack of old-school expertise. We caught up with Yeung after his return in this Q&A.)
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