Underwater power grid aimed at new depths

Offshore operators racing to extract more oil from under deep waters have a vision of one day running wells remotely from land, The Houston Chronicle reports, reducing the need for multibillion-dollar offshore production platforms. That will take lots of electric power, though, and while the companies don’t have technology to generate electricity underwater, they are developing new ways to get it there from shore or from generators on the ocean’s surface. Siemens is working on subsea transmission equipment that could deliver 100 megawatts at a distance of more than 70 miles from a generation facility—a dramatic increase from the 3-4 megawatts maximum transmitted now through cables from platform generators to the deepwater wells below. “A subsea power grid lets you power up all your appliances to manage your field, and will allow you to do so for multiple wells,” say Adil Toubia, CEO of the Oil & Gas Division of Siemens Energy. While underwater electric cables have been around since the 1800s, the technology to plug and unplug equipment underwater, known as “wet connections,” is still evolving. Siemens hopes to bring its technology to the commercial market by 2014. Read the full story and see an infographic on how the subsea power grid works here.