Is Your Cable Strategy Future-Proof?

Subsea Cables Under Pressure

The North Sea is undergoing a profound shift as the UK pushes for net zero while maintaining energy security. Offshore wind capacity has grown rapidly, with recent Contracts for Difference rounds securing over 8 GW in early 2026 alone, part of ambitions to reach 43-50 GW by 2030. This expansion requires extensive subsea power cables to link farms to shore, alongside interconnectors for cross-border flows endorsed in agreements like the Hamburg Declaration.

Existing cable infrastructure, much installed for oil and gas platforms, faces obsolescence. Many assets approach or exceed design life, with decommissioning ramping up—forecasts show over 100,000 tonnes of subsea infrastructure removed annually from 2026. Failures in these cables could disrupt power transmission, inflate repair costs in harsh marine conditions, and trigger regulatory penalties or production halts.

Stakes are high. Poor cable management leads to lifecycle costs spiralling, project delays in a sector already strained by supply chain bottlenecks, and risks to energy reliability as renewables replace thermal generation. The North Sea Future Plan, launched in late 2025, promotes co-location of wind, oil/gas, and CCUS, demanding integrated cable planning to avoid seabed conflicts and enable shared infrastructure.

Non-obvious tensions include the pull between preserving oil and gas jobs—over 150,000 supported—and redirecting skills to renewables, where 90% of competencies transfer but policy uncertainty has prompted offshoring. Decommissioning costs average millions per well or structure, with cumulative basin spend projected in tens of billions, pressuring operators to future-proof cables for extensions, repowering, or efficient removal rather than costly full replacements.