Calling for entries from companies and consortia interested to undertake a study to investigate assessment of thermal properties of soils and implications for subsea cable design.

The main objectives of this work are to:

• investigate the cost implications of poor characterisation of the thermal properties of soil for a subsea cable design from a material/manufacturing point of view;
• establish an overview of all testing techniques available both in terms of laboratory and in-situ tests and evaluate their potential for offshore use;
• identify aspects of subsea cable design that are challenged by offshore conditions compared with onshore cable design practice (i.e. HDDs, fully saturated conditions, a more stable ambient temperature field);
• develop a framework for determining characteristic values for design that will account for pre- and post-installation conditions for cable design;
• develop best practice guidelines for scoping, executing, and interpreting both in-situ and laboratory tests of thermal properties of soils (i.e. thermal conductivity and heat capacity) for subsea cables;
• develop recommendations for improvements of measurement techniques and interpretation of results for offshore use.

The deadline for clarification questions has passed. Responses to clarification questions received are posted below.

The closing date to receive tender submissions is 7 August 12:00 BST.

All clarification questions and tender submissions should be sent electronically, by their respective deadlines, to ivan.savitsky@carbontrust.com, with owa@carbontrust.com in copy.