In August 2023, an alliance of technology companies celebrated the first four months of continuous renewable energy supply to Baker Hughes’ subsea communications and control systems. Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) is a $2.4 million first-of-its-kind demonstration system that promises to provide clean, reliable offshore energy to marine based projects. Think brownfield extensions to oil-and-gas fields, greenfield carbon capture and storage developments, support and remediation of shore-to-seabed umbilicals, and operation of autonomous underwater vehicles for monitoring and service of subsea equipment.

Every deployment of new technology into ocean environments is challenging. The integration of two Scottish born innovations — the Mocean Energy Blue X wave energy converter and Verlume’s Halo intelligent underwater battery system — into RSP has shown it can harness the relatively gentle summer waves of its testing ground five kilometers off Scotland's Orkney Islands to power subsea equipment. This success has earned the project an extended sojourn in more tumultuous winter conditions, through to spring 2024.