Subsea Cable Health/security Utilising Backscatter and Established Repeater Technologies (SCHUBERT)Subsea Cable Health/security Utilising Backscatter and Established Repeater Technologies (SCHUBERT)

With the transition away from fossil fuels and towards greater electrification of transport and heating (net zero 2050) a significant increase in electrical demand is expected over the coming decades. As a result, growth in offshore renewable power generation, "bootstrap" cables to reinforce national power grids, and international interconnects to support energy trading, are all now driving considerable investment in submarine power cable infrastructure.

As cable technology and installation techniques develop, it becomes feasible to deploy ever longer subsea cables, creating new opportunities for cable construction projects. When cable spans exceed 50-100km the cost of building HVDC converter stations can be outweighed by savings due to lower transmission losses, the current trend is therefore towards construction of very long subsea HVDC cables.