HOUSTON, TEXAS (Editors at Energy Analytics Institute, 15.Feb.2025) — Global Underwater Hub (GUH) published a white paper on its approach to tackling a crucial issue that could derail the UK’s clean energy ambitions.
The trade and development body, which represents the UK’s £9.2bn underwater industry, aims to improve the performance and reliability of subsea cable systems which are critical elements of offshore wind infrastructure, essential to transmitting electricity from offshore wind farms to the grid, GUH said 15 Feb. 2025 in an official statement.
Globally, over $800bn of investment in offshore wind farms is anticipated by 2030 and, for the world to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, the generating capacity from offshore wind must increase by a staggering 1,120 GW. Closer to home, the UK government has set ambitious targets of 50GW of installed capacity by 2030, GUH said.
“This scale of expansion, in both fixed and floating offshore wind, can only be achieved by installing and maintaining hundreds of thousands of kilometers of reliable subsea cables,” GUH chief executive Neil Gordon said in the statement. “The performance and reliability of these cables is therefore crucial to delivering the UK’s clean offshore power ambition and global net zero targets. But these cables are highly susceptible to damage during installation and operation, leading to substantial insurance claims and costly downtime.”
GUH has identified cable performance and reliability as a major issue which needs to be solved, especially as floating offshore wind, which requires even more complex dynamic cables, becomes an increasing percentage of the overall installed base.
With a world-leading installed base of offshore wind capacity and a strong project pipeline, combined with a stable policy framework, GUH says there is a significant opportunity for the UK’s underwater supply chain to lead the way in subsea cable systems.
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By Editors at Energy Analytics Institute. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
