Electrification of subsea systems: requirements and challenges in power distribution and conversion

The subsea industry has become more predominant in recent years because of the discovery of a significant number of new oil and gas fields located in deep water, a term often used to describe offshore projects located in water depths greater than 600 feet. In order to extract oil and gas, a large number of electrical systems need to be deployed at the seabed. Many of these electrical systems need high-reliability power grid and power control units located on the seabed to minimize downtime. Power system and power electronics play a major role in providing the required and reliable power to various electrical systems. But there are many challenges for deploying power components under the seabed. This paper presents the challenges and the requirements of power system components operating in subsea environment, use of power electronics for efficient transmission of power from the offshore platform or from the shore to the subsea electrical loads; variable speed drive systems; and research areas related to power electronics for subsea electrical systems.