HOUSTON, TEXAS (Editors at Energy Analytics Institute, 3.Apr.2025) — Global Underwater Hub (GUH), the trade and development body which represents the UK’s £9.2bn underwater industry, has joined forces with Subsea Innovation Cluster Australia (SICA) – a membership organization of companies in the Australian subsea industry – to foster innovation, collaboration and growth among companies and organizations in the subsea sector in the UK and Australia.
To this end, GUH and SICA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to grow the subsea sector in both hemispheres.
Per the MOU, the 2 organizations will actively promote opportunities for their subsea supply chains in both countries and support each others’ members in entering their respective markets. They will also share market intelligence and learnings around diversification strategies particularly in energy transition and defense, including the security and protection of critical underwater infrastructure, GUH and SICA said on 3 Apr. 2025 in a joint statement.
Facilitating collaboration will be a priority with the establishment of partnership innovation program between UK and Australian firms to develop and implement technology suitable for both regions, they said.
“Australia has a broad conventional energy mix with strong ambitions towards net zero, powered by carbon capture and a growing pipeline of offshore wind projects in both the West and South East Australian regions,” GUH chief executive Neil Gordon, said in the statement. “Crucially, and similar to the UK, Australia champions a just transition which builds in energy resiliency and security with opportunities in sustained oil and gas production, decommissioning, offshore wind and carbon capture. Supply chain companies are encouraged to bring innovative, collaborative and sustainable solutions to this diversified market.”
Gordon highlighted the continued production within the oil and gas industry in Australia where there are opportunities within new developments as well as in the expansion of current production by leading operators such as Woodside Energy and Santos. This he said, is augmented by an increasing focus on carbon capture and storage, driven by the high CO2 content in gas production in the region, where there are presently 18 carbon projects in the planning.
Large scale projects such as Browse currently have substantial infrastructure installation requirements which will be followed by inspection, repair and maintenance over the lifetime of the project, according to Gordon.
“Decommissioning is a significant opportunity in Australia where the inventory of subsea assets required to be decommissioned includes over 1,500 wells and structures and 4,500km of pipelines with major opportunities for specialist plugging, cutting, inspection and recovery technologies,” Gordon said. “Meanwhile in offshore wind, largely focused on key areas in the South East and Western Australia, there are projects totaling 11GW. The subsea requirement for cables, foundations, survey and protection systems across upwards of 700 turbines provides a significant future opportunity for UK subsea companies.”
“Similar to the UK, the underwater components, engineering and services are not necessarily required to operate in extreme water depths as in some other deepwater global basins. Instead, environmental and sustainability are key drivers and there is therefore a strong desire from Australian operators and developers to bring in expertise and best practice from UK companies who have almost five decades of experience,” Gordon said.
The MOU marks an important step in strengthening collaboration between Australia and the UK’s subsea sectors, SICA cluster manager Colin McIvor said in the statement.
“By working with Global Underwater Hub, we’re opening new opportunities for innovation, knowledge sharing, and international market access for SICA members. Both organizations bring unique strengths: SICA’s agility and cross-sector innovation focus and GUH’s depth of experience and established global networks. By sharing these, we can deliver real impact for established and emerging industries and accelerate significant growth for both countries,” McIvor said.
According to GUH and SICA, additional underwater market opportunities exist within defense through the AUKUS alliance for advanced subsea robotics and in the global telecoms market where Western Australia is a key landing point for undersea communication links to Asia, the Middle East and Africa
____________________
By Editors at Energy Analytics Institute. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
